WTAMU drops Lady Aggies in LSC quarterfinals

BOXSCORE»

CANYON, Texas (Feb. 28) - Courtney Lee's career-high 21 points paced a West Texas A&M offense that shot better than 50 percent from the field on Tuesday night in opening-round action in the Lone Star Conference champonships.

The result put an end to the Cameron women's basketball season, as the 17th-ranked Lady Buffs rolled into the LSC semifinals with a 93-61 win over the Lady Aggies. Cameron finished the season with an overall record of 15-13, while WTAMU improved to 25-3.

Lee, who also set a career-high by going 5-of-5 from three-point range in the game, led a group of four Lady Buff players in double-figures Tuesday night. LSC scoring leader Emily Brister added 20 points, while LSC field goal percentage leader Alicia Saunders went 7-of-8 from the floor and scored 16. Natalie Wheeler chipped in 12 for West Texas A&M, which entered the postseason ranked No. 2 in the South Central Region.

Cameron, the No. 10 team in the region, got 12 points each from senior Melissa Steen and sophomore Ciara Carroll. Senior Brittany Cooksey finished with 10 points.

Coach Dick Halterman's Lady Aggies fell behind early in the game and never led. Cameron shot just 24.2 percent from the floor in the first half and finished the game with a shooting percentage of 31.3. West Texas A&M raced to a 49-28 halftime lead thanks to a 51.6 shooting mark before intermission, including a sizzling 8-of-11 from three-point range. The Lady Buffs tacked on a 3-of-5 effort from behind the arc in the second half, finishing the game 68.8 percent on trey attempts.

Tuesday's game started sloppily, with both teams combining for 2-of-12 shooting and nine turnovers in the first four minutes. But after Steen's free throws pulled Cameron to within four at 8-4 with 15:09 left in the half, the Lady Buffs launched a 15-4 run to take a 15-point lead midway through the opening period. WTAMU extended its advantage to as many as 24 before the break, using a 17-2 advantage in points off turnovers to pull away.

Cameron cut the lead to 18 on two occassions in the second half. Carroll's three-pointer with 15:47 to play made it 59-41 and Linda Brown converted a layup at the 13:29 mark to pull the Lady Aggies within 62-44.

But the Lady Buffs answered Cameron's final charge with a 17-0 run over the next four minutes, with Lee accounting for eight of those points on a pair of treys and two free throws. WTAMU's 35-point lead dipped to 27 twice in the closing minutes, but the Lady Buffs led by 35 again in the final seconds before Brittni Peacock's three-pointer at the buzzer put the final points of the season on the board for the Lady Aggies.

Tuesday's contest was the final game in a Cameron uniform for five Lady Aggie seniors: Linda Brown, Joneatta Brown, Cooksey, Steen, and Katie Stoll.