COMMERCE, TEXAS – A&M-Commerce (9-5-0 overall, 4-3 in conference) will close its season with a four game road trip, the first stop of which is set for this Friday at Texas Woman's University (9-5-1 overall, 3-3-1 in conference).
 
The Pioneers, who will host the Lions for Texas Woman's final regular-season home game of the season, will be celebrating senior night. The occasion will commemorate the services of the senior players on the TWU roster and thank them for their career contributions as they prepare for graduation.
 
Though Texas Woman's started October with four winless games (including a 1-0 loss at A&M-Commerce in which Lions defender Ashley Phillips netted the game-winner), they rebounded last weekend with impressive home shutout victories over two regionally ranked conference opponents. The first was a 3-0 win against the No. 6 team in the region, Angelo State, while the second was a 1-0 triumph over the No. 10 team in the region, Midwestern State.
 
Friday's contest will be a showdown between the two most potent offensive threats in the entire conference, TWU's Natalia Diaz and A&M-Commerce's Savannah Henderson. The two players each hold a share of the conference lead in points at 26, while Henderson has sole control of the goals category with 11 to Diaz's 10. Nobody else in the conference has more than seven. Additionally, Diaz is in a tie with A&M-Commerce forward Jade Bell for the conference-lead in assists, with 6. In their previous game against one another, Diaz was held in check with only two shots, while Henderson was allowed to get significantly more involved, firing off 6 shots and assisting on the game-winner. The Pioneers will undoubtedly aim to flip the script on that matchup this time around.
 
In the prior meeting, both keepers for each squad had respectable afternoons. TWU's Ariana Morrison fought off five saves and looked good, only allowing one chaotic goal in an otherwise stalwart outing. Morrison comes off two consecutive shutouts, her third and fourth of the season, and has rejected 59 attempts on the season for a conference-leading .676 goals-against average. Meanwhile, her counterpart on the Lions, junior Courtnie Northern, has earned shutouts in two of her three last games, and stopped all eight attempts in the Lions win against the Pioneers earlier in the season.  With five shutouts on the season and 87 total saves, Northern leads the conference in both save percentage (.888) and saves per game (6.21).
 
The Pioneers and Lions will play for the 20th time in recorded history, with A&M-Commerce firmly controlling the all-time series at 12-2-5. The Pioneers last win against the Lions came in Denton in October 2012, when TWU prevailed 1-0.
 
The action at Texas Woman's University won't be the only LSC competition, as Friday will be a day that will see all six members of the conference active. Elsewhere, Eastern New Mexico will travel to San Angelo, Texas to take on Angelo State, while Midwestern State will host the visiting West Texas A&M Lady Buffs.
 
The Lions will play on Friday, October 24 at 7 p.m. After that, the Lions will travel to Bethany, Oklahoma on Monday, October 27 to take on Southern Nazarene University at 3 p.m.