by LAWTON, Okla. — The Aggie women’s basketball comeback falls short against the top ranked Lady Chaps, 89-74, despite a record-tying night from Ava Battese (Comanche/Potawatomi) and a strong second half from Amaka Nwakamma.
At the end of the first quarter, the Aggies found themselves trailing the reigning Division II National Champions by ten points, in a single frame that saw eight CU turnovers, and a 40 percent shooting effort from the floor in the first ten minutes. Still, the scrappy Aggies were hanging around with the Lady Chaps.
The biggest reason the Aggies were able to stay in the game was their craft guard play from veterans Logan Collyer, and Battese who poured in five and six points respectively in the first quarter.
Cameron pulled to within nine points early in the second quarter, after the first media timeout. However, a 14-3 Lady Chap scoring run to close out the first half ended any momentum the Aggies tried to gain.
The Black and Gold found themselves down 46-25 at the break due to the red-hot shooting by the Lady Chaps who nailed the three-point shot at a 60 percent clip before halftime, drilling eight shots from deep.
Lubbock Christian, who is ranked No. 1 in the D2SIDA polll and No. 2 in the WBCA Top-25 rankings, was led by Maddi Chitsey who turned in ten points in the first half alone. Caitlyn Cunyus and Madelyn Turner both made a team-high two threes in the first 20 minutes of action.
The Aggies finished the first half with 12 turnovers, and a .310 shooting percentage as a team from the floor.
In the second half, the Lady Chaps went on a 17-6 run at the first media. Ashton Duncan made six of those points during the stretch.
The Lady Chaps once saw their lead grow to 33 points during the second half of action. Allie Schulte led LCU in scoring pouring in 13 points in the contest, to go along with her four assists and five rebounds.
Cameron got a huge contribution off the bench from the senior Nwakamma, who scored 17 second-half points, good enough for the second-most on the team in tonight’s contest. Nwakamma nailed a trio of trey balls and hauled in nine rebounds.
Battese tied her own Cameron record for most three-pointers made in a single game as she knocked down eight long-range shots on her way to a team-high 24 points on Thursday night.
The Aggies, now 2-1 in Lone Star Conference play and 3-6 overall, will look to bounce back on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 21, when they host the Angelo State Rambelles. Tip-off at the Aggie Gym is set for 2 p.m.
