by SAN ANTONIO, Texas – A slow start in San Antonio, led to the Cameron University women’s basketball team falling 67-55 to No. 24 St. Mary’s on Tuesday night.
The Aggies never really got going offensively, shooting just 32.2 percent from the floor while going 8-30 from three and 9-18 from the charity stripe. Natalie Halbleib finished with a team-high 12 points, going 5-15 from the field and 2-10 from the perimeter. Maighan Hedge was also in double-figures with 10 points, eight of which came in the second half.
Additionally, Chelsea Heidebrecht and Ava Battese (Comanche/PBPN) added eight points each, Battese making a pair of threes on the night. She is now second in the Cameron record book in career three-pointers made with 167, and is 13 made three-pointers away from the program record held by Brandi Leal.
Cameron opened up the first quarter with a 6-3 lead, thanks to threes from Halbleib and Battese. STMU responded with an 8-0 before Halbleib got the Black and Gold to within three at 11-8 with 2:12 left to play in the frame. The Lady Rattlers then went on another 8-0 run to lead 20-8 through 10 minutes of play. CU started to chip away at the lead in the second quarter and a last minute layup from Hedge got her team to within five at the half.
To start the second half, the Aggies went on an 8-3 run to tie the game at 30, with 7:11 left in the third quarter, and then took the lead on a McKenna Spikes jumper. The home team answered with a 9-1 stretch to back on top by eight. They held that momentum and closed out the frame with five straight to lead 49-38 heading into the fourth quarter. Cameron cut the deficit down to nine on a Heidebrecht jumper, but that was as close as they would get as St. Mary’s held CU off for the 67-55 win.
Four Rattlers scored in double-figures with Soteria Banks leading the way with 16 and Hannah Wilson chipping an 11 point, 13 rebound double-double. As a team, STMU shot just 32.8 percent from the field and 25 percent from the perimeter, but hit 19 of their 24 free throw attempts in the win.
The Aggies are now 3-7 on the season, while the ranked STMU team improves to 9-2 with the win; they are No. 24 in the D2SIDA Top-25 Poll and receiving votes in the WBCA Poll.
Cameron’s final game of 2018 will be on Dec. 29 as they visit Division I Stephen F. Austin for an exhibition contest that will not count against CU’s season record.
