January 26, 2013
TARLETON STATE CRUISES PAST A&M-COMMERCE, 79-51
Tarleton State 79, A&M-Commerce 51
LOCATION: The Field House: Commerce, Texas
RECORDS: Tarleton State (13-4, 9-2 LSC); A&M-Commerce (6-9, 4-6 LSC)
UP NEXT: at Texas Woman's – Denton, Texas – Wednesday, January 31 – 7:00 p.m.
Commerce, Texas – Tarleton State came into the Field House sporting the number one offense in the Lone Star Conference and they put it on display beating the Lions, 79-51. The win gives the TexAnns an opportunity to gain first place by themselves or tie with Abilene Christian and Midwestern State depending on results from Saturday. The loss drops the Lions to 4-6 in LSC play and put them on the bubble for making the conference tournament in March in Allen, Texas.
Tarleton State jumped out to a quick 17-4 lead in the opening minutes. The Lions were able to stabilize things and upped the pressure on defense to sure up inside. The Lions battled back but were unable to cut into the lead and trailed 39-26 at half.
A&M-Commerce forced 8 turnovers and had five steals in the first half to help spark the offense that was slow in the early minutes. Breanna Harris had 13 points and 10 rebounds in the first half including eight of the first 16 the Lions put on the board. Shanekqua Bibbs and Danille Dixon added four, Symone Brown had three and La'Tisha Hearne had two to round out the Lions scoring in the first half.
The TexAnns were led by Kiara Wright and Keyra Johnson each having 12 in the first half. Peyton Adamson added eight, Lindsey Mann had three and Erin Simms, Brianna Bledsoe each had to two for Tarleton State.
The TexAnns expanded on their halftime lead in the opening four minutes of the second half. The lead got to as many as 22, 50-28 before head coach Nicole Anderson called a timeout. Tarleton State's largest lead was 36 with 2:49 left to play. The pressure defense did not affect the TexAnn offense in the second half. Tarleton improved on the 45 percent they shot in the first half to a 57 percent clip in the second half.
Peyton Adamson and Kiara Wright continued their solid afternoons with each scoring nine in the second half. Bledsoe added seven to give her nine on the game along with four rebounds and three assists. Wright kept up with her double figure averages in points and rebounds with a 21 and 13 double-double. Adamson finished with 17 and was a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line.
Harris was the only Lion in double figures with her 15 points. She also recorded 14 rebounds including 10 on the offensive glass to give her a second consecutive double-double. The 15 points is also her sixth straight game in double figures. Harris also added two assists and three steals on the afternoon. Symone Brown came off the bench and put in nine points and grabbed four rebounds. Danielle Dixon, Aubree Butts and La'Tisha Hearne added six for the Lions. Bibbs had four, Michelle Sutton added three and Sarah Duran had two to round out the scoring for the Lions.
The Lions return to the court to start the second half of conference play on Wednesday when they travel to Denton to take on Texas Woman's University. The Lions will look to sweep the Pioneers after taking the first meeting 63-52, back on November 28. Game time in Denton is set for 7:00 p.m.
