Northeastern treys sink Lady Aggies

BOXSCORE»

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (Feb. 15) - Northeastern State shot better than 57 percent from three-point range on Wednesday and combined the outside assault with the inside play of Verressa Gaston to notch a 74-64 win over the Cameron women's basketball team at Dobbins Field House.

Gaston posted a career-high 25 points and the Lady Reds outscored Cameron 36-6 from behind the arc, dropping the Lady Aggies to 13-11 overall and 4-5 in Lone Star Conference North Division play.

Wendy Fehrenbach and Charlotte Dikeman combined to shoot 8-of-10 from three-point range for the Lady Reds, finishing with 14 points each. Cameron countered with 20 points from Joneatta Brown and 15 apiece from Brittany Cooksey and Tiffany Williams, but couldn't keep pace with a Northeastern offensive attack that shot 54 percent from the floor in the game, including a 64.3 percent effort from three-point range in the first half.

Cameron scored the first points of the game, getting a jumper from Melissa Steen on the Lady Aggies' first possession to take a 2-0 lead. But after Fehrenbach answered with the first of back-to-back three-pointers, Northeastern never trailed again. The Lady Reds opened the game at a torrid pace, converting nine of their first 10 shots from the field, including a sizzling 5-of-5 from three-point range.

The Lady Aggies battled to stay within striking distance, getting 12 points from Brown and 10 from Williams in the opening period. Cameron never trailed by more than 11 points in the first half and got within five on a Shantel Whitaker jumper that made it 39-34 with 51 seconds left before halftime. But Lindsey Sams drained Northeastern's ninth trey of the half just before intermission to make it an eight-point game.

In the second half, NSU's sharp-shooters yielded to Gaston, who scored 16 of her game-high 25 after the break. The 5-10 sophomore finished the game 10-of-17 from the field, including 6-of-10 in the second half.

The Lady Aggies chipped away midway through the half, only to be turned back by Gaston. Three straight points by Cooksey had Cameron within six with 10:27 to play, but Gaston sandwiched a pair of buckets around a Dikeman three-pointer to put the Lady Reds up 63-50 with just over eight minutes remaining and NSU held a double-digit advantage the rest of the way.

Cameron will look to snap a two-game losing skid in LSC North Division play on Saturday, hosting Central Oklahoma in a contest expected to tipoff at 2 p.m., at Cameron's Aggie Gym.