Box Score
ABILENE – Abilene Christian's women's basketball team used a 25-9 second-half run to whittle a 15-point halftime deficit down to two, but following a missed free throw with nine seconds remaining Cameron's Lacy Reinke ran untouched to the rim and score the clinching points in a 59-55 Aggie victory.
ACU sophomore Mack Lankford launched one last attempt in traffic with three seconds left, hoping to draw one last foul, but her shot rolled out of bounds as the Wildcats dropped to 3-3 (0-2 LSC) on the season.
Cameron improved to 5-2 with the victory and is now 3-1 in the Lone Star Conference.
ACU was led by
Kelsey Smith with 22 points and eight boards, while
Paige Parliament contributed 13 points and nine rebounds. Cameron's Julie Paunovic led all scorers with 20 points and was 4-of-4 from 3-point range.
The Wildcats finished the game 0-of-9 from beyond the arc and were also hampered at the foul line in the first half as they connected on just 2-of-8 attempts.
ACU began its comeback early in the second half with 11 straight points after being down by as many as 20 following a Paunovic jumper.
Hillari Adam scored the last of these points on a layup, which brought ACU's deficit into the single digits. The Wildcats then went on a 9-2 run that brought them within four points of the lead at 49-45.
The Wildcats would get within one possession over the final three minutes of regulation, including once on a put back by Parliament with 1:30 left, but Cameron connected on two more free throws to maintain its four-point advantage.
Two more free throws from Smith trimmed the Cameron lead to 57-55, but Sabelle Diata was fouled on the ensuing possession in setting up Reinke's heroics.
Cameron started the game on a 12-4 run paced by a pair of 3-pointers from Nicole Pendarvis and Diata, but hit just one field goal over the final six minutes – a jumper by Alexis Williams with 55 seconds remaining. The Wildcats, however, were equally ineffective during this stretch and entered the half down 31-16.
ACU shot 27 percent in the first half compared to 36.7 percent for the Aggies.
The Wildcats return to action at Moody Coliseum Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m. vs. West Texas A&M.
