COMMERCE— The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team will host UT Permian Basin on Thursday. It is the first matchup for the two teams since UTPB joined the Lone Star Conference.
 
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (11-5, 5-3 LSC) vs. UT Permian Basin (5-9, 2-6 LSC)
WHERE: The Field House in Commerce, Texas
WHEN: Thursday, Jan. 19 at 5:30 p.m.
LIVE STATS: http://statb.us/b/147058
LIVE VIDEO: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/tamucommerce/
LIVE AUDIO: www.ketr.org
TICKETS: http://lionathletics.com/sports/2016/11/18/2016-17-basketball-ticket-information.aspx
 
The Lions are coming off of a 38-point win against NCCAA opponent Arlington Baptist. While a win wasn't a surprise for the team, head coach Jason Burton was pleased with how his team executed. He especially liked how the game gave him an opportunity to get his bench players more playing time.
 
"The whole team got a chance to get in and get game action," he said. "I thought they did a good job when they got in the game. I thought our starters did a great job right out of the gate setting the tempo. We were able to get up by 30 at halftime. I thought the girls that were in the game, they did a good job of executing the game plan, executing what we do offensively and playing at a fast tempo."
 
Earlier on Monday, the Lone Star Conference announced Khala Riley as the Offensive Player of the Week. Burton was glad to see his senior point guard get some outside recognition.
 
"I think it's long overdue," he said. "She should have gotten it earlier in the season. She has carried us. With Princess Davis going down, she has had to step into the point guard role. She was playing the two and she was supposed to have a scoring mentality this year. That was what we wanted her to do.
 
"But she has had to take on a completely different role. She has had to play point guard for us and she has done a fantastic job as far as distributing the ball and scoring, but not only that. She is rebounding, she is getting steals. She is top-10 in several categories in the Lone Star Conference and she has been doing it all year. She has not just done it on the offensive end either. She has guarded too. Having to do that while playing 35 minutes has been incredible."
 
The Lions now play host to UTPB. The Falcons are second in the LSC in steals and are first in three-point shots. Their style of play is similar to Arlington Baptist, and Burton expects his team to be ready for the challenge.
 
"They spread you out and look to drive and kick and find shooters," he said. The majority of their guards hit a high percentage of shots from three. We've got to do a good job of contesting and making sure we are in driving lanes. I've thought we've done a good job this year of being able to get out to shooters and contest shooters and guard teams that can shoot the three. If we continue to do that and we rebound the ball, we have a good shot to win."
 
UTPB is one of two new schools in the LSC. The teams have only met once in their respective histories, in 2010. No player or coach were a part of this matchup, so it is essentially two teams who have never faced each other. Burton knows it will be a different experience to play a conference game against an unfamiliar opponent.
 
"It's just the unknown," he said. "You have a lot of familiarity with West Texas, Tarleton, whoever it may be. As tough as those games may be, you have some familiarity with the players, the coaching styles, the tendencies and the things they like to do. Though it may be a battle, you kind of know who you are going against. You don't know that going against a new team. It was like that when we went to Western New Mexico. It was a completely different team in a different environment than we have played in. It's one thing to see them on film. It is a completely different thing to play against them in a game."
 
Burton knows it will take a complete game for his team to come out on top. He is confident that if his team shows up and plays its best for the full 40 minutes, they will be in a position to come out on top.
 
"With our team, there has been two different teams who have shown up," Burton said. "There's a team that shows up expecting they are going to win just because they have shown up. And there's the team that grinds it out and competes and battles. When that team shows up, I think we are one of the best teams in the country. It's a matter of us. We've got to come out and set the tempo and play for 40 minutes. When we are playing for 40 minutes and are communicating with each other and sharing the ball, we are a hard team to beat."