Zias beat Lady Aggies to end slide

Sophomore guard Heather Brown led three Eastern New Mexico University players in double figures with 18 points Thursday night and the Zias used a strong start Thursday night to beat Cameron 67-55 in a Lone Star Conference women’s crossover game at Greyhound Arena.

Junior post Tiana Bryant added 17 points and senior guard Lacy Lee had 11 for the Zias (3-3), who led all the way in snapping a three-game losing streak.

“We needed that win,” Brown said. “We were at home, and we were just hungry for a win.”

The Lady Aggies (1-4) struggled all night from the field, making just 2-of-22 from 3-point range before hitting their last two attempts in the final two minutes.

Defense was the key, Brown said.

“We felt pretty good,” she said. “Our offense will come and go, but as long as our defense is good we’ll be all right.”

Sophomore forward Chelsea Turner scored 16 points for Cameron while junior guard Katie Stoll added 12 off the bench. But ENMU held the Lady Aggies’ top two scorers, junior guard Brittany Cooksey (14 ppg) and senior forward Christina Buben (11), to just one field goal and four points.

“If you can hold their leading scorers like that, you’re in good shape,” ENMU acting women’s head coach Dustin Klafka said. “We got a little tired in the second, and we gave up some inside baskets that we probably shouldn’t have.

“But I thought we played better tonight than we have on both ends of the floor.And we had players score for us tonight that we need to sc ore.”

The Zias were outrebounded 46-38, but it really didn’t hurt that much because Cameron struggled mightily from the field, shooting 31 percent overall on 20-of-65.

“I was disappointed in our rebounding,” Klafka said. “That’s something we’re going to have to do a better job of.”

Brown said the Zias simply refocused.

“We haven’t shown up to play, and that’s our fault,” she said of the losing streak. “We just have to get the job done every night like we did tonight.”

Leading 37-26 at halftime, the Zias were content to trade baskets with the Lady Aggies most of the second half. The margin stayed between 12 and 15 points until consecutive 3-pointers by Campbell and Katie Stoll cut the margin to 62-53 with one minute left.

Lee then converted 1-of-2 free throws, and Brown hit four consecutive charities to close out the game.

Cameron missed its first 10 shots before 6-4 junior reserve Joneatta Brown converted a rebound, pulling the Aggies to 11-3. But ENMU continued to pull away, building a 22-8 lead on a driving shot from the lane by Robertson and three times expanding the margin to 17 points.

The Lady Aggies finally got untracked. A 3-point play by Turner stated a 9-0 run that made it 32-24, but Brown’s 3-pointer and a last-second basket by Loren Scarlett off an inbounds play made it 37-26 at halftime.

The Zias shot 46 percent for the half and added 9-of-12 free throws, allowing them to overcome a 22-17 deficit on the boards. Brown had both of ENMU’s 3-pointers to finish the half with a game-leading 10 points.

Turner and Stoll each had nine points for the Lady Aggies, who shot 33 percent (10-of-30) from the field and made just 1-of-11 from 3-point range.

ENMU 67, Cameron 55

Cameron (1-4) — Christina Buben 1-5 0-0 2, Chelsea Turner 5-6 6-7 16, Melissa Steen 4-12 0-0 8, Brittany Cooksey 0-9 2-2 2, Taylor Campbell 2-9 1-2 7, Brittni Peacock 0-0 0-0 0, Merrisa Martinuszzi 0-1 0-0 0, Linda Brown 1-3 2-4 4, Ashley Bernardi 0-1 0-0 0, Katie Stoll 5-14 0-0 12, Joneatta Brown 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 20-65 11-15 55.

Eastern New Mexico (3-3) — Tia Doss 3-4 0-1 6, Mika Robertson 1-7 3-4 5, Tiana Bryant 6-13 5-5 17, Heather Brown 5-9 6-7 18, Laci Lee 4-12 3-5 11, Riikka Lehtonen 0-1 4-6 4, Casey Rodriguez 0-0 0-0 0, Ashley Davidson 0-0 0-0 0, Loren Scarlett 3-7 0-0 6. Totals 22-53 21-28 69.

Halftime — Eastern New Mexico 37, Cameron 26. 3-pointers — Cameron 4-24 (Campbell 2-4, Stoll 2-10, L. Brown 0-1, Buben 0-3, Cooksey 0-6), Eastern New Mexico 2-10 (H. Brown 2-5, Bryant 0-1, Lee 0-1, Robertson 0-3). Rebounds — Cameron 46 (Steen 11), Eastern New Mexico 38 (Robertson 8). Assists — Cameron 13 (Campbell 5), Eastern New Mexico 12 (H. Brown, Lee, Robertson 3). Total fouls — Cameron 23, Eastern New Mexico 19. Fouled out — L. Brown. A — 280.