LAWTON, Okla. – A hot start to the game, followed by a blistering pace to begin the second half, put momentum in the hands of the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball program on Thursday at Aggie Gym against Cameron, but didn't result in a win as a 91-80 final score favored the hosts to start the final week of Lone Star Conference play.

"I thought we did a good job overall," said head coach Wade Scott. "Cameron shot the three extremely well and we had to battle a couple of injuries during the game, but our bench put a great effort to keep us in it."

The Javelinas (9-17, 6-13 LSC) got a season-high 17 points from sophomore Ravae Payne (Pearland, Texas) off the bench, alongside 10 more from junior Brynae Thompson (Houston, Texas), but the Aggies (8-19, 5-14 LSC) sank 15 shots from beyond the arc to keep TAMUK in a tie for the eighth seed in the LSC Tournament.

The Blue and Gold traded buckets to start the first before connecting for a 13-3 run to flip a 10-10 tie into a 23-13 lead by the 1:14 mark in the opening quarter. Junior Lidia Guiral (Fraga, Spain) ignited the run with a contested layup at 3:56 while a trey from Payne capped the run for a 10-point cushion.

CU added a couple of early three-pointers to cut the gap to six, but a three-spot from Payne at the charity stripe kept the lead at a manageable 28-19 going into the second stanza.

The first scoring drought stuck the Javelinas early on in the second as the Aggies erased the gap in the first 1:42 with a flurry of layups, a three-ball and a pair of points from the line to put the Blue and Gold in a 29-28 disadvantage by 8:18.

Both sides went back-and-forth before a 38-38 tie flashed on the scoreboard with 3:56 remaining in the half. CU put up six of the final eight points to take a 44-40 lead going into the locker rooms, while a fastbreak layup from Payne served as the lone bucket in the lull for TAMUK.

Points were easier to come by in the third for both teams, with the Javelinas finally getting the lead back at 6:10 on a deep shot from Thompson for a 53-51 cushion.

Junior Danielle Meador (Corpus Christi, Texas) put the lead at four with a driving layup at 1:21 in the quarter, but the hosts kept the score within one possession as Ava Battese added a layup in response with less than 30 seconds remaining, keeping the score at 70-68 favoring the visitors going into the fourth.

Meador built the lead to five to start the final frame as she hit a layup at 9:43 before drawing a foul and sinking a free throw less than a minute later for a 73-65 Javelina advantage at 9:02.

Another scoring drought reared its head once again, however, as Cameron connected for four treys over the next seven minutes of game time and buried TAMUK in an 88-75 hole with 2:07 left on the clock.

The lead proved too much to overcome for the Javelinas as the final was cemented shortly after at 91-80.

Payne's 17 points were courtesy of a 5-for-12 mark from the field, including a perfect 5-for-5 from the line. Redshirt freshman Bri-Anna Soliz (San Angelo, Texas) grabbed her fourth double-double of the season as she put away 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the floor and grabbed 13 rebounds in the loss.

Thompson and Meador both added 10 points in the contest, with the former going 4-of-7 off the bench and the latter adding on four steals and three rebounds.

TAMUK will have one final opportunity to earn a more favorable position going into the LSC Tournament with the final regular-season contest on tap for Saturday, March 2, against MSU Texas with tip off set for 2 p.m. CT in Wichita Falls, Texas. Either a Javelina win or losses by Cameron and Western New Mexico on Saturday will send the Blue and Gold to the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, for the 2019 Lone Star Conference Championships.

To keep up-to-date with Javelina Women's Basketball, follow the program on Facebook /JavelinaWBB or on Twitter @TAMUKwbb

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