DENVER– The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team won a thriller against Metropolitan State University of Denver on Saturday night. The Lions won 69-68 on a game-winning shot with 14 seconds left.
 
The win brings the Lions to 1-1 on the season. It was the second game of back-to-back games in a tournament hosted by Metro State to open the season. The Roadrunners fall to 1-1 on the season.
 
The Lions will have their home opening game on Wednesday as they face LeTourneau University. The game will begin at 6 p.m. at the Field House.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Brianna Wise scored the game-winning layup with 14 seconds left. She led all scorers with 21 points and had a team-high eight rebounds.
- Artaejah Gay had 17 points on 7-11 shooting and added five rebounds. Krystal Pickron had nine points and Princess Davis had a team-high five assists.
- Georgia Ohrdorf led Metro State with 17 points. She also had eight rebounds. Emily Hartegan had a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Jaelynn Smith also had 14 points and a game-high seven assists for the Roadrunners.
- Both teams made 26 field goals and 13 free throws. The difference in the game was A&M-Commerce's slight 4-3 lead in 3-pointers made.
- The Lions had 40 points in the paint. They caused 16 turnovers and converted them into 14 points. They also had 15 second-chance points on 14 offensive rebounds.
- There were four lead changes in the final minute of the game and 14 overall.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions took an early lead, scoring 10 of the first 12 points of the game. Wise had a bucket, an assist and a rebound, all in the first two minutes of the game.
 
Gay had three field goals in the first quarter and Khala Riley had a three-point shot and a layup as the Lions led 16-10 with three minutes to go in the quarter.
 
The Roadrunners went on a run to end the quarter. They scored 13 of the final 16 points of the quarter. Smith had five points in the quarter and three assists in the final minutes to aid the Roadrunners. Metro State took a 23-19 lead into the first break.
 
Wise continued to shoot well to start the second quarter. She had two field goals in the early part of the quarter. Three-pointers by both Gay and Pickron gave the Lions the lead back and pushed it to five with six minutes left in the half. Gay and Wise closed out the quarter, scoring 12 of the Lions' 18 second quarter points.
 
Wise and Gay both had 11 points in the first half. Wise also had six rebounds, including three offensive rebounds. The Lions scored all four of their three-pointers in the first half.
 
The game continued to be deadlocked through the third quarter. Eight different players scored the 18 Lion points in the third quarter. A&M-Commerce had its largest lead of the game in the early part of the third quarter. They scored the first six points of the quarter before the Roadrunners climbed back into the game.
 
Ohrdorf had eight of the 19 points for Metro State in the third quarter. Trailing by five, the Roadrunners went on a 6-0 run to take the lead back with a minute left in the third quarter. The Lions scored two buckets in the final minute to take a 55-52 lead into the final quarter.
 
Wise had two early buckets for the Lions in the fourth quarter but the Roadrunners stayed with them and matched A&M-Commerce point for point. Ohrdorf had six points in the fourth quarter and Hartegan added six down the stretch.
 
There were eight lead changes in the fourth quarter, including four in the final minute of the game. Hartegan gave Metro State the lead on two free throws with 49 seconds left.
 
Gay countered with a quick bucket of her own with 41 seconds left. Hartegan looked to will her team to victory, scoring again with 28 seconds left. She got her own offensive rebounds and made a quick shot, prompting a timeout by the Lions for one final play.
 
The Lions got the ball inside the paint. After a missed shot, Davis got her own offensive rebound and she found Wise for the game-winning layup with 14 seconds left.
 
The Roadrunners called timeout to get a play of their own drawn up. Ohrdorf missed a shot with four seconds left and Hartegan had a last ditch effort, grabbing the offensive rebound and throwing up a quick shot. The shot couldn't find the bottom of the net as time expired. The Lions won 69-68.