The Lions lose to Southern Arkansas in the last seconds of the game.

TEAM LEADERS
A&M-Commerce
Points: Two players with 15 points each
Rebounds: Amari Jones, 13
Assists: Five players with two assists each
Steals: Two players with two steals each
Blocks: Amari Jones, 2

Southern Arkansas
Points: Shana Homes, 25
Rebounds: Rosa Bryant, 18
Assists: Tierra Tucker, 6
Steals: Tierra Tucker, 3
Blocks: Aleeya Harris, 2
 
1st Half
Shana Holmes came out of the warm-ups and dropped two early threes as the Lions seemed to have to play from behind early in the first quarter. Although A&M-Commerce shot 40 percent from the field in the first quarter, their free throw shooting is what kept it close as they went 6-of-10 from the line and finished the first quarter tied with Southern Arkansas 19-19.
 
In the second quarter, Holmes came out with two more threes and served as a real headache for the Lions early. Later in the quarter with the score tied at 25, both teams traded bucket for bucket up until the score was 29-29. After a Lions two, Shana Holmes hits another three in this quarter, but this time Shomari Harris returned the favor with a three of her own to put the Lions up by two 34-32.
 
After seven ties in the half, the second quarter ended with the Lions ahead 38-34. Both teams shot 39.4 percent from the floor on 13-of-33 shooting. The Lions had a greater free throw percentage at 55.6 percent (10-of-18) but the Muleriders shot well from the three ending the half at 54.5 percent (6-of-11).
 
A the end of the first half, Amari Jones had 10 points and was perfect from the free throw line shooting 4-of-4. Shana Holmes electrified the Muleriders and shocked the fans with a perfect shooting display from three finishing the half 6-of-6 with 18 points.
 
2nd Half
The Lions came out of the half full of momentum as they attempted to push on the gas. Amari Jones ran the entire floor against two defenders and went up and over for  two points while drawing a foul and completed a three point play making the score 58-47. Later in the quarter, Krystal Pickron does the same running the floor for a lay up with seconds remaining on the clock as the Lions ended the third quarter still ahead 61-52.

In the fourth quarter, the Lions continued to jump on the Muleriders as they burst out to a 11-5 run to begin the fourth quarter and forced a Southern Arkansas timeout. Unfortunately, the Mulriders refused to wave the white flag and began to show signs of life down 74-68.

With 2:50 seconds remaining in the game, Audrissa Harrison misses two big free throws and shortly after, Caroline Ficher makes a big three for Southern Arkansas to cut the Lions lead down 74-71. Following the three, A&M-Commerce committed two consecutive turnovers and fouls putting Alyssa Hamilton on the line. Hamilton made the first free throw but missed the second. Rosa Bryant gets the biggest of her 18 rebounds to kick it back to Hamilton and she lays it in to tie the game at 74 with 39 seconds left in the game. The Lions came sprinting down the court and Khala Riley takes an open shot that goes right off of the rim. Amari Jones gets the rebound, but fail to make the put back as Southern Arkansas gains possession. Although kept under wraps for most of the second half, Shana Holmes drives down the court and puts up a floater that gives the Muleriders a 76-74 lead leaving only four seconds left in the game. With one last chance to at least tie the game, Gabby Scott puts up a prayer but it falls short as time expires on the Lions.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Lions forced Southern Arkansas into 21 turnovers and scored 16 points off of them. Conversely, the Lions had 16 turnovers that translated into 21 points for the Muleriders.
• The Lions bench outscored Southern Arkansas 24-7.
• Amari Jones had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Jones was 5-of-8 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the stripe.
• Shomari Harris matched the team high of 15 points and hit two threes in the second half.
• Southern Arkansas shot 50% from beyond the arc (8-of-16) and Shana Holmes went a perfect 7-of-7.
• Rosa Bryant logged back-to-back double-double performances finishing tonight's game with 23 points on 11-of-21 shooting, and 18 total rebounds.
•  Southern Arkansas snaps their 5 game losing streak against the Lions. 

Burton's Corner
When asked about:

…the fourth quarter…
"We thought the game was won and stopped playing our brand of basketball. We followed the game plan for three quarters and then went away from it. We were careless down the stretch against the press and didn't make free throws throughout the entire game. I have to do a better job of getting our team back focused when we get away from the gameplan. I didn't do that. I'll coach them better and as a team we will learn from this and grow."
 
 
GAME INFORMATION
Sets: A&M-Commerce 74, Southern Arkansas 76
Records: A&M-Commerce (1-2, 0-0 LSC), Southern Arkansas (2-0, 0-0 GAC)
Series: A&M-Commerce are 9-12 against Southern Arkansas
Location: The Field House Commerce, Texas
Time of Game: 6 p.m.