LAWTON, Okla. – A rough-shooting second half proved too much for Tarleton State to overcome as the TexAnns (9-4, 3-2) dropped Saturday's game to Cameron 75-65 in Aggie Gym.
 
For the second straight game, Tarleton came out of the gate on fire by getting two layups from Ikpeaku Iwobi and a pair of free throws from Kathy Thomas over the first 2:19 to build a 6-0 lead before the Aggies (7-7, 4-1) ever got on the board.
 
Cameron answered right back, however, to begin a seesaw battle over the rest of the game.
 
The Aggies went on a 17-6 run to lead 17-13 before two second-chance points from Averie Mack off an offensive rebound stopped the bleeding and made it a two-point game with 11:18 left in the opening half.
 
Cameron maintained the lead until 24-20 when Kathy Thomas struck for eight unanswered points of her own on a pair of 3-pointers and a layup to turn a four-point Tarleton deficit into a four-point TexAnn lead with 6:13 to go.
 
The teams traded the lead two more times over the rest of the half with neither side leading by more than one possession before a layup from Iwobi knotted the score at 37-37 heading into halftime.
 
Out of the break, Tarleton continued to pour on the points with a 17-11 run over the first 7:09 of the new half to take a six-point lead at 54-48 with 12:51 left in the game. Tarleton's offensive woes would begin right after Thomas's 3-ball that pushed the lead to six.
 
Tarleton State went just 2-16 shooting from the field and 0-5 from downtown over the next nine minutes while Cameron pulled away to a 13-point lead at 71-58 with just under four minutes to play. Travanti Downes hit both shots for Tarleton during the run.
 
Raven McGrath stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer to pull it back to 10 but the TexAnns could get no closer than 10 over the rest of the game.
 
For the game, Tarleton State shot 33 percent from the floor on 22-66 shooting – including 10-36 in the second half – and 33 percent from downtown while Cameron shot 45 percent from the floor and from downtown for the game.
 
Iwobi posted her third straight double-double with 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds while Thomas led Tarleton in scoring with 16 points despite fouling out of the game with six minutes left.
 
Tarleton got scoring from every TexAnn who checked into the game, including a season-high seven points from Morgan Ashmore off the bench. Bailey Wipff (6), McGrath (5), Mack (4), Breanna Fuller (4), Downes (4), Meagan O'Dell (3) and Karli Moore (2) rounded out the scoring.
 
The TexAnns will be back home Wednesday night to take on No. 11 West Texas A&M at Wisdom Gym beginning at 5:30 p.m.