| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 |
|
Aggie women win, men lose in double dip against ASU
2:04 PM :: 389 Views ::
0 Comments :: Sports
|
 |
LAWTON, Oklahoma (January 11) – The Aggie men’s (9-5) and women’s (2-12) basketball teams faced off against Angelo State University tonight, and came away with completely opposite results. Both games came down to the wire, but only the Aggie women were able to pull out a victory. They won the first game, 54-52, with the men dropping the second, 72-71.
The CU women put down the ASU Rambelles (9-5), at one point leading by as many as ten points. The team has continued to improve their field goal percentage and has drastically cut down on their turnovers in the last three games. Cameron has won two of their last three, and shot 44% from the floor last night.
“This win feels good,” Head Coach Kevin Hackerott said. “I’m really proud of how our kids kept fighting through the tough times. They stayed the course and really kept believing.” The Aggies began the season losing eleven in a row, but knocked off Texas Woman’s University last Thursday for their first win.
Junior guard Tiffany Williams, the reigning Lone Star Conference North Player of the Week, had another strong outing, leading both teams with 18 points and 7 rebounds. She also added an assist.
“Tiffany has done a better job of letting the game come to her and is not forcing anything,” Coach Hackerott said. “She has gained some confidence and is starting to do some things that a leading scorer should do.”
The Aggies were also able to attribute their victory to some stingy defense that kept the Rambelles guessing. Cameron held ASU to 31.5% shooting and forced 17 turnovers. Seniors Shantel Whitaker (guard) and Chelsea Turner (forward) contributed well on defense, coming up with key steals and blocks down the stretch that kept CU in the lead.
“Shantel had some key steals for us and Chelsea did a great job of guarding their best player,” Coach Hackerott said. “Our whole team played very well defensively, and is starting to figure out that you can do other things besides score to win games.”
Whitaker finished with 10 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 steals, while Turner finished with 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, and 2 steals.
“A good portion of this win can be attributed to our confidence,” Coach Hackerott said. “Our girls are really starting to believe, and if we can increase our shooting percentage to around 50%, we will really start to win ballgames.”
The Aggie men’s team was not as fortunate when they took on the underachieving ASU Rams (5-9). Cameron dominated for nearly the entire game, going up by as many as fifteen points, but saw their lead dwindle down to an ASU lay-up with six seconds left sealed the defeat. The Aggies shot 37.5% and were only able to rely on 8 bench points.
Senior guard Matt Reid had the ball in his hands with one second left on the clock, looking for his third buzzer-beating, winning shot of the season, but was unable to sink it. The Aggies went into halftime with an 11 point lead, but it was simply not enough. The defeat is Cameron’s third in a row and their first at home this season.
While Reid was unable to win the game on a last-second shot, he still had a very solid game throughout. He finished with a game-high 22 points on 7 for 17 shooting, and contributed 6 rebounds, and a game-high in assists (3) and steals (4).
Cameron had a couple of scares late in the game, as they saw senior guards Melvin Mitchell and Willie Tisdale, Jr. go down to the floor in agony on separate plays. Mitchell ended up with severe cramping, while Tisdale rolled his ankle immediately after entering the game for the first time. Mitchell finished with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, and 1 steal in 30 minutes of play, while Tisdale was only in for 3 minutes before leaving due to injury.
Angelo State was able to rely on Cameron’s poor shooting to take the victory. Neither team shot well in the contest, making for an ugly game. ASU was also able to count on the play of Marcus Hubbard, a 6’9” junior center, who could not only drive the lane with power, but could put down shots from long-range. His stellar play towards the end of the game proved to be the catalyst in ASU’s victory.
Junior guard Joseph Bolden also put in a solid game, finishing with 12 points, 1 steal, and a team-high 8 rebounds.
The Cameron basketball teams host the Wildcats of Abilene Christian University this Saturday at the Aggie Gym, with the women and men tipping at 2:00pm and 4:00pm, respectively. Stay tuned to goaggies.cameron.edu for any scheduling changes and information due to inclement weather. |
|
|
|
|