After a long road trip up into Oklahoma, the University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team returned to the McDermott Center on Saturday for a Lone Star Crossover Game against Cameron University, hoping to get off their winless slide.
In what coach Angela Lawson called the team's “best performance this season,” the Cardinals fought tooth-and-nail to the end, and ultimately fell, 68-60.
“I'm disappointed we lost, obviously,” Lawson said. “But it was really nice to see some of these freshmen play like we'd expected them to play and for the team to be better after what I saw in Oklahoma. If they keep playing like this, they're going to start winning some games.”
Point guard Katy Cooke led the Cardinals (0-7) in scoring with 17 points – including a 4-for-6 effort from the three-point line. Her shooting and assists (six) in the first half were a big reason why UIW had a 9-point lead over the Aggies (5-5) in the first half.
Unfortunately, Cameron had a 14-4 run to end the first half, anchored by two 3-pointers by Alexis Williams (who finished with a game-high 23 points along with teammate Sabelle Diata), which put the Aggies up, 32-31, at the midway mark.
The Cardinals avoided their current trend of falling apart in the second half after playing a good first and fought back from 7-point deficits to tie the score twice, but could never reclaim the lead.
In the end, UIW's 20 turnovers (to 9 by the visitors) was the main statistical reason for the Cardinals' loss, since they shot better from the floor (43% to 39%) than CU.
Also scoring in double-figures for Incarnate Word were Chloe Wallace (12 points) and Rose Whitehead (10 points). Ifunanya Mora had 11 rebounds to go with her 6 points.
Incarnate Word hosts Southwestern Oklahoma State University on Monday night.
