February 15, 2012

West Texas A&M 78, A&M-Commerce 61
Location: The Field House * Commerce, Texas
Records: A&M-Commerce (1-22, 0-17 LSC); A&M-Kingsville (15-8, 13-4 LSC)
Up Next: at Eastern New Mexico * Saturday, February 18 * 3 p.m. * Greyhound Arena

COMMERCE, Texas – The Lions suffer another loss to the Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M, after a big second half meltdown, 78-61. Breanna Harris kept the Lions in the game after a strong first half, but the Lady Buffs had a big 45 points second half performance shutting the Lions offense down.

Danielle Dixon got the Lions off to a big lead to open the game with a big three pointer, followed by two free throws and a jumper giving the Lions a 9-4 lead at the 15:25 mark.

The Lady Buffs would slowly chip away at the Lion lead off of the A&M-Commerce fouls and converting all 5 fouls to points, getting West Texas A&M back in the game, 18-18 at the 7:14 mark.    

West Texas would begin to pull away off of a Joni Unruh three pointer and two Joni Unruh free throws, putting the Lady Buffs up, 28-20 in the closing minutes of the first half.

Fortunately for the Lions, Breanna Harris and Devin Oliver would not be denied by the West Texas defense as they dropped 7 points to finish out the half, 29-33.

The second half would get out of hand quickly for the Lions as West Texas immediately knocked down 4 points courtesy of Ashley Leven in the opening minute of the second half.

The Lions would attempt to fight back but would fall short when Chontiquah White extended the Lady Buff's lead to 15 when she hit 8 back to back points. The Lady Buffs wouldn't stop as they continued to stretch their lead over the next 6 minutes to the largest gap of the night, 25 points.

Danielle Dixon would return late in the second half to attempt to get the Lions back in the contest dropping 9 points in the closing minutes of the game. Dixon would cut the West Texas lead down to 14 points but time would expire as the Lions were handed another defeat.

Dixon was the leading scorer for the Lions with 19 points followed very closely by Breanna Harris who ended her evening with 18 points. The Lions shot 49% for the evening hitting 24-49 Field Goals but free throws sunk the Lions as they shot a dismal 42.1% (8-19).

West Texas took advantage of the fouls that the Lions handed them hitting 67.5% (27-40), which made all the difference in the game. West Texas was outshot on both Threes and Field Goal percent, but the extra 19 points on free throws sealed the game for the Lady Buffs.

The Lions are running out of time when it comes to getting some W's in the win department as they have 3 games left for the season. The Lions will hit the road to Portales, New Mexico to take on the Zias of Eastern New Mexico. The Lions dropped a heartbreaker earlier this season to the Zias, 69-52 back on Jan 7^th. The Zias have been struggling lately, dropping their last two games including a massive defeat at the hands of Tarleton State, 73-48.