COMMERCE, TEXAS – The Lions undefeated home record came to close on Tuesday, as A&M-Commerce closed out the 2014 calendar year by falling to the East Central University Tigers (7-1) 63-50.
 
A&M-Commerce went down 13-3 through the first five minutes of the contest, but quickly recovered with an 8-0 run to pull within two. By half time, the Tigers held a narrow 27-25 lead. Senior guard Ashlee Johnson had scored six of the ten points she would eventually finish with, and had gobbled up five boards.
 
The Tigers came out firing in the second half, exploding for a 12-2 run to start the half to bring things to 39-27.  From there, the Lions would not come closer than eight points down, and the Tigers were able to cruise to the win.
 
"We didn't come to play tonight," said head coach Jason Burton, "They came with more energy, they executed better, and they just outworked us all night."
 
Senior forward Abigail Leaupepe-Tele led all Lions in scoring with 13 points, to go with four rebounds and a block. La'Tisha Hearne also reached double-digit scoring with 10 points and six boards, as well as a block of her own.
 
ECU was led by Dilan Webster, who supplemented her 14 points with eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals.  Forward Ashleigh Kelman-Poto was the top-scorer with 18 points, as well as seven rebounds. As a team, the Tigers managed to lock the Lions down defensively and disrupt shots, limiting A&M-Commerce to 29.8 percent from the field. The Lions failed to sink a three-pointer for the entire night, going 0-6 from deep.
 In the midst of the loss, the Lions enjoyed a brief glimpse of good news, as guard April Kindle made her first appearance of the season with limited action. The A&M-Commerce coaching staff expects Kindle's presence to eventually yield support in the Lions' guard rotation.
 
"April will have to work her way into the lineup," said Burton, "But I'm excited for what she can bring. We rely on Princess (Davis) and Ashlee (Johnson) so much, another capable guard to be able to come fill in would be bug for us."
 
The Lions now have two and a half weeks off for winter break. They will return to campus and resume practice on December 29thh to get ready for their next game of the year, a trip to Wichita Falls to take on the Midwestern State Mustangs (8-1) on Saturday, January 3 at 4 p.m.