FRISCO – The No. 10 Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team picked up a 70-60 win over St. Mary's on Thursday in the Lone Star Conference Championship Quarterfinal round. The Lions never trailed after the first two minutes of the game, and used a late run in the fourth to pull away from the Rattlers to get the win.
The win brings the Lions to 27-2 on the season, and they advance to the semifinal round for the third consecutive season. The Rattlers fall to 14-14 and are eliminated from the tournament.
The Lions await their opponent for the semifinal round, as they await the winner of the quarterfinal game between Tarleton and Eastern New Mexico. The Lions' semifinal game will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Comerica Center in Frisco.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Chania Wright (DeSoto) led the Lions with 12 points, with nine of her points coming in the second half. She also had three rebounds and two assists.
• Alexis Bryant (Pflugerville) added 10 points and seven rebounds, while Mykiel Burleson (Pflugerville) also had 10 points.
• Juliana Louis (Long Beach, Calif.) neared a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds. She had seven points in the first quarter.
• Maddison Glass had nine points, including eight points in the final quarter. Alexus Jones (Lewisville – Aledo) and Dyani Robinson (Cypress – Langham Creek) added eight points apiece.
• The Lions caused 24 StMU turnovers, scoring 26 points off of turnovers. The Lions also had a 15-2 advantage in fast break points.
• It is now the 11th time the Lions have advanced to the LSC Semifinal round, as they have an 11-14 record all-time in the LSC Quarterfinal round.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was an even start to the game as the teams each traded their first four baskets. Louis had consecutive jumpers as the Lions took the lead for the first time at the six minute mark. After four minutes of play, the teams were tied at eight.
The Lions then went on an 9-0 run to take a 17-10 lead. Louis hit a three and Robinson had two jumpers during the run. The Lions took a 20-12 lead into the second quarter.
It was even throughout the second quarter, as the Rattlers could not pull any closer, but the Lions could not pull any further away through the first six minutes of play. The Lions pushed their lead to 12 points in the first minute of play, and the lead hovered around 10 points for several minutes. The Rattlers finished the final four minutes of the half on a 10-2 run, sending A&M-Commerce into halftime with a 30-28 lead.
Wright scored the first two baskets of the third quarter before the Rattlers answered back with two baskets of their own. A three from Jones pushed the Lion lead to five points at the midway mark of the third quarter.
The Lions pushed their lead back up to eight before the Rattlers hit their first two threes of the game, cutting the Lion lead to just two points at the third quarter break, with the Lions leading 44-42.
The Lions took care of the final quarter as they started the quarter on an 11-0 run. Three Rattler turnovers led to the Lion offense, as Bryant had a pair of early buckets and Jones hit a three. The Lion defense clamped down, holding the Rattlers without a field goal for over five minutes late to establish their lead to 13 points. The Lions caught fire from beyond the arc in the final quarter, hitting four of their seven attempts from deep.
Wright had a pair of threes in the quarter as she pushed the Lion lead to as many as 15 late in the quarter. The Rattlers began to foul and cut the lead to as few as eight late in the game. However, the Lions made their foul shots and left the arena with the victory, advancing to the semifinal round.