LAWTON, Okla. (Feb. 5) – The TWU basketball team made a furious rally in the final minutes to erase a 13-point deficit, but ultimately the Pioneers fell short in a 67-65 loss to the host Cameron Aggies on Thursday night in Aggie Gym.  The Pioneers are now 12-10 on the season and 5-6 in the Lone Star Conference.
 
Trailing 65-52 with 4:30 left in the game, the Pioneers went on a 13-1 run in a span of four minutes and had a chance to take the lead with three seconds left but missed the go ahead lay-up.  The Aggies made one of two free throws with one second left on the clock to nail down a two-point win.
 
Senior Toree Mason came off the Pioneers bench and scored a team-best 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting including 4-for-6 from the three-point range.  Sophomore Emily Spector added 13 points while sophomore Erin Maxwell chipped in nine for TWU.  Sophomore Deja Pointer also added eight points for the Pioneers.
 
Both teams struggled to find the basket early in the first half before Cameron took a 6-2 lead at 16:32 mark.  The Pioneers scored the next five points to take the lead and used another 13-3 run to push the lead to nine, 20-11, halfway through the half.  The Aggies rallied to tie the game at 22-22 with an 11-2 run but TWU answered with 10 straight points to go back on top 32-22 with 1:00 left in the half.  Cameron closed out the half on a 5-0 run to make it a 32-27 score at the break.
 
The Pioneers maintained the lead early in the second half and were up 42-36 at 14:39 mark before Cameron went on a run.  The Aggies used a 17-0 run to take a 53-42 lead with 9:30 left on the clock.  CU pushed the lead to 14 points at 6:31 mark and had the double-digit lead for the next two minutes before the Pioneers made their final rally.
 
TWU shot 43.5 percent from the floor including 45.2 percent in the first half.  The Pioneers also made 42.1 percent of their three-point shots.  TWU made eight three pointers in the game, tying their season-high for most threes made in a game which was originally set on Thursday, Jan. 15, vs. Cameron.  The Aggies outscored TWU, 19-3, from the free-throw line.
 
"This is a tough loss after rallying back from a double-digit deficit," said TWU head coach Beth Jillson.  "We had a bad five-minute segment in the second half and Cameron went on a big run.  I am proud of the way we rallied back and did not give up.  We hit some big shots from outside but we did not get to the free-throw line enough."
 
The Pioneers will return to action when they host Texas A&M-Kingsville on Wednesday, Feb. 11.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Kitty Magee Arena.