DURANT, Okla. – The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team earned a 78-73 comeback win in overtime against Southeastern Oklahoma State University on Sunday afternoon. The Lions fell behind by 17 in the first half but clawed their way back and forced overtime and stole a win from the Savage Storm.
 
The win brings the Lions to 4-2 on the season. SOSU falls to 3-2 on the year.
 
The Lions will open up conference play as they take on Cameron University on Thursday. The game will begin at 11 a.m. at the Field House. The game is a part of Education Day and will be followed by the men's basketball team facing Cameron at 1 p.m.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions trailed by as many as 17 in the first half. They outscored SOSU by 12 in the third quarter and two in the fourth to force overtime.
- Krystal Pickron led the Lions with 18 points, including a perfect 8-of-8 from the foul line. She also had seven rebounds.
- Khala Riley had 17 points and six rebounds. Brianna Wise had 13 points and a team-high five assists. She shot 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Jenna Price had 11 points and six rebounds. Artaejah Gay had eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
- After seven turnovers in the second quarter, the Lions had just seven turnovers in the final two quarters plus overtime.
- The Lions led for just six and a half minutes in the game. They led for two minutes in the first quarter and in the majority of overtime.
- The Lions had 16 offensive rebounds and 18 second-chance points.
- Olivia Webb scored 16 points to lead SOSU, 11 of which came in the first half. Sa'Liesha Hunter had 13 points, six rebounds and four assists. Ariannah Kemp had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams got off to a slow start. The Lions were held without a point for the first five minutes of the game. The Storm didn't fare much better. They had just four points in the first five minutes. The Lions started to heat up in the final five minutes of the first quarter, rattling off seven straight to take a 7-4 lead. The Storm retook the lead in the final minute to go up 12-10 after the first quarter.
 
SOSU scored 17 of the first 19 points to start the second quarter. They proceeded to go on a 13-0 run to take a 17-point lead. Potter hit back-to-back threes and the Lions saw themselves trailing by a bundle.
 
Turnovers affected the Lions early in the second quarter. They had seven in the second quarter, which led directly to buckets for the Storm. SOSU had 16 points off of turnovers in the first half. The Lions had just five points off of 10 SOSU turnovers. The Lions trailed 35-21 at halftime.
 
Potter had eight points off of three three-pointers for SOSU. Emem David had eight points. Riley led the Lions with five points. Wise had four points and three assists. Seven Lions scored in the first half.
 
The Lions scored the first five points of the second half to cut the lead to single digits. Pickron had back-to-back threes to keep the Lions within striking distance. She had eight early points in the first five minutes of the second half.
 
A&M-Commerce's defensive urgency picked up in the second half as the Lions caused multiple turnovers. The Lions found themselves in the paint at will for the majority of their shots in the second half. The Lions drew fouls and converted, shooting 19-of-20 from the line in the second half. They cut the lead to five with three minutes to go in the third. Riley scored an and-one with 40 seconds left and converted the free throw to tie the game at 51. The Storm made a late bucket to take a 53-51 lead into the fourth.
 
The Lions fell behind by seven points midway through the fourth quarter, then began to make their comeback with three minutes left in the game. Price made two free throws and a jumper to tie the game at 71-all with 40 seconds to play.
 
SOSU had a late turnover and the Lions had one final chance to take the lead before overtime. After milking the clock to six seconds, Riley got into the paint and drew a whistle but she was called for an offensive foul and the game went into overtime tied at 71.
 
The Lions took their first lead since the first quarter in the opening seconds of overtime. They scored the first four points of overtime. SOSU had one bucket fall in the overtime period and was held scoreless for the final three minutes. The Lions made their free throws to put the game away.