Balanced Scoring Attack Lifts Women's Hoops Past Cameron

LAWTON, Okla. – The St. Mary's Women's Basketball team used a balanced scoring attack to win back-to-back contests for the first time in the Lone Star Conference as the Rattlers went on the road to win 72-62 at Cameron.

The Rattlers improve to 5-7 on the season and an even 4-4 in Lone Star action with the victory, while the Aggies fall to 4-9 overall and 3-4 in league play.
Freshman Briley Perkins (Houston, Texas) scored a career-high 20 points, becoming the second-straight Rattler freshman to top the 20-point milestone in a game as Bella Hughes (Argyle, Texas) scored 21 on Saturday. Perkins hit four three-pointers and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line, becoming the third Rattler to hit 20 points this season (Soteria Banks).

Junior Hannah Wilson (Fredericksburg, Texas) tallied her third double-double in four games with 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. Wilson was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field for the night in her 30 minutes of action. Junior Soteria Banks (Round Rock, Texas) joined the pair in double digits in scoring with 16 points. Senior guard Alexia Torres (San Antonio) led the team with five assists, while Wilson had two blocked shots and junior Jessica Barbosa (Bissai, Guinea Bissai) led with two steals.

The Rattlers shot a season-high tying 50 percent from the field (Southwestern Oklahoma, Nov. 15) and connected on 38.9 percent of their shots from beyond the arc (7-for-18). The team also made 9-of-15 free throws (60 percent). The defense held the Aggies to just 28.6 percent from the floor and 36.1 percent from the arc. Cameron also struggled at the free throw line, making 59.1 percent (13-for-22).

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Aggies made the opening basket of the game, but the Rattlers responded with the next seven points, including back-to-back jumpers by Banks and a triple by Perkins for the 7-2 edge. Cameron stopped the streak with a free throw, but the Rattlers closed the quarter on a 4-0 run for the 11-3 lead.

The Rattlers kept things going with the first four points of the second quarter to stretch the lead to 15-3 at the 8:02 mark. Cameron sank a pair of triples sandwiched around a Wilson layup for the 17-9 tally. Banks scored on a layup with 6:10 remaining to stretch the lead back to 10 before the Aggies made a pair of free throws. The teams traded layups and Wilson added another for the 23-13 score with 4:31 on the clock. Cameron made three free throws around a Banks layup as the scoreboard read 25-16 before the Rattlers went on a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 34-16 with 1:27 left. The Aggies scored the final six on back-to-back threes for the 34-22 score.

Wilson opened up the second half with a jumper and after a Cameron free throw, Hardeman nailed a triple for the 39-23 lead. The Aggies answered with one of their own and Banks made a free throw, followed by a Wilson layup to give her double digit scoring. After the Aggies scored on back-to-back treys, Perkins made one of her own for the 45-32 score with 5:34 on the clock. Cameron strung together four-straight points before Wilson made a layup at the 4:35 mark for the 47-36 score. After another four-point run for the Aggies, Banks scored on a traditional three-point play and the Aggies came back with four-straight to make the score 50-44 with 2:18 on the clock. Torres hit one free throw and Cameron added five-straight to cut the game to two, 51-49 with 1:06 left. Wilson made another triple and Cameron hit a three at the buzzer to again pull within one, 53-52.

The Aggies took a short-lived lead with jumper eight seconds into the final stanza, but Hardeman drained a three to give the advantage right back to the Rattlers, 56-54. After a Cameron layup, Perkins scored seven straight for the Gold & Blue for the 63-56 lead with 7:12 remaining. The Aggies scored three but the Rattlers pushed across the next nine to put the game away and won 72-62.

TEAM & INDIVIDUAL PLAYER NOTES

• Briley Perkins became the third player this season to score 20 or more in a game as she tallied a career-high 20. Perkins betters her previous high of eight from UC-Colorado Springs on Nov. 16.
• Hannah Wilson tallied her third double-double in four games with 17 points and a career-high 18 boards. Wilson tied the school record for field-goal percentage in a game with her 8-for-8 performance, becoming the fourth player to be perfect in a game with a minimum of eight makes. (Jolene Smith, 1998 {10-10}, Martha Brinker, 2001 {9-9}, Arysia Porter, 2016 {8-8}).
• Soteria Banks is the only player on the roster to start in all 12 games this season. Lexi Torres has started in 11 of the 12, while Hannah Wilson has been in the starting lineup 10 times.
• St. Mary's shot 50 percent from the field, tying the high for the year from the season opener against Southwestern Oklahoma on Nov. 15.
• The Rattlers have now out-rebounded four-straight opponents and have a +2.4 rebound margin for the season.

UP NEXT
The Rattlers remain on the road playing at Midwestern State on Saturday at 2 p.m. before coming home to host Texas A&M International on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 5:30 p.m. and Texas A&M Kingsville on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 2 p.m.