DENVER– The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball lost its season opener Friday night, falling 81-58 to Colorado State University-Pueblo. The Lions fell behind early in the game and were unable to mount a comeback.
The game was part of a two-game tournament. The Lions look to bounce back quickly as they face the host team, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Saturday night at 8 p.m. CST. The game is at the Auraria Event Center in Denver, Colo.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- CSUP's Molly Rohrer led all scorers with 18 points on 7-11 shooting, adding eight rebounds. Tuileisu Anderson had 17 points and Jaszymn Johnson added 14, including ten in the first quarter.
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Princess Davis had 15 points, five rebounds and two assists to lead the Lions.
Brianna Wise added 11 points and three rebounds.
- CSUP had 17 assists in the game compared to eight for A&M-Commerce.
- The Lions forced 17 turnovers and had 17 offensive rebounds as compared to 13 and 12 respectively for CSUP. Yet the Thunder Wolves outscored the Lions both in second-chance points (17) and points off turnovers (19).
- The Lions shot 26.5 percent from the field and 18-28 from the free throw line. CSUP shot 42.6 percent from the field, 45.5 percent from the 3-point line and 86.4 percent from the free throw line.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions had the quick lead with two layups early in the game to take a 4-0 lead. Two other opportunities were missed as the Lions could not convert on two other layup attempts in the first two minutes of the game.
The Lion defense was strong early on. They forced two turnovers and the Thunder Wolves missed their first four shots of the night. But CSUP turned their shooting around, scoring five quick points.
Second chance points helped the Thunder Wolves find their rhythm. The team had six offensive rebounds in the first quarter. The teams traded buckets through the first seven minutes of the quarter, before CSUP went on a run.
Leading 16-14, the Thunder Wolves scored nine of the final 11 points of the quarter. Reserve Johnson had the hot hand for CSUP in the first quarter. She had ten points on 4-4 shooting, including 2-2 from the 3-point line in six minutes of first-quarter action. She also had two offensive rebounds. CSUP led 25-16 at the end of the first quarter.
The Thunder Wolves scored the first six points of the second quarter on two 3-pointers to push their lead to 15. But the Lions answered with five points of their own. A&M-Commerce got to the foul line five times in the second quarter, converting seven of their 10 attempts.
But the Lions couldn't get their shots to fall in the quarter. They missed 17 shots in the second quarter alone, going 2-19. Davis had the both of the field goals for the Lions in the second quarter. Rohrer had six points, four rebounds and two blocks in the second quarter for CSUP. The Lions trailed 42-28 at halftime.
The teams traded buckets throughout the third quarter. The Lions spread the ball around, with no player scoring more than four of their 18 points in the quarter. Davis, Wise and
Brittany Adams each had four points in the quarter for the Lions. A&M-Commerce trailed 59-47 at the end of the third quarter.
The Lions let the game get away from them down the stretch. The teams went scoreless for a three-minute stretch before the Thunder Wolves turned on the heat. They got to the free throw line and scored nine-unanswered points to push their lead over 20.
The Lions had back-to-back 3-pointers to cut it back under 20 but struggled to contain the Thunder Wolves in the fourth quarter. CSUP led by as many as 26 before the Lions scored the final three points of the game. The final score was 81-58.
