WICHITA FALLS – The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team pulled away in the fourth quarter on the way to a 69-64 win over Midwestern State University in D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Thursday night.
 
The Lions sweep the season series over the Mustangs for the second consecutive season. A&M-Commerce is now 14-5 overall and 8-3 in the Lone Star Conference, in sole possession of third place in the LSC. MSU falls to 5-12 overall and 2-9 in the league.
 
A&M-Commerce will play at Cameron on Saturday, tipping off at 2 p.m. in Lawton, Okla.
  INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Three Lions scored in double digits, led by 19 points from Jenna Price. Price also grabbed seven rebounds.
- Artaejah Gay had 15 points, and Khala Riley filled up the box score with 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and five steals.
- The Lions forced 24 MSU turnovers, converting them into 23 points.
- A&M-Commerce held a 37-33 rebounding advantage, with 22 offensive rebounds converted into 17 second chance points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half was back-and-forth, featuring four ties and nine lead changes. The Lions only shot 34.3 percent in the half compared to a 48.0 percent rate for MSU, but took a 34-29 lead into the break thanks to 10 steals.
 
Midwestern scored the game's first six points in the first minute and a half, but the Lions quickly narrowed the deficit with a Gay three-pointer and a Riley layup. Pickron's three-pointer at the 6:19 mark gave the Lions their first lead at 10-8.
 
The Lions scored the last six points of the first quarter, holding the hosts without a point for the final 2:30 of the period. A&M-Commerce took an 18-15 lead after 10 minutes despite missing six consecutive shots at one point.
 
A&M-Commerce missed its first six shots and the Mustangs scored seven consecutive points to regain the lead at 22-18. Hometown player Abreanna Harrison had a lay-in to stop the surge, and a Price triple from the corner gave the Lions the lead again at 23-22.
 
Late in the period, A&M-Commerce went on an eight-point surge, and a Wise triple at the 1:27 mark gave the Lions their largest lead of the half at 34-27. The Lions took a 34-29 advantage into the break.
 
A Harrison free throw on the second half's opening possession pushed the Lion lead to six points before MSU responded. A series of free throws in the middle of the period gave the hosts a six-point swing that put MSU up by three, but a layups by Price and Gay put the Lions back in front.
 
A&M-Commerce scored six of the last eight points in the frame and took a 53-50 lead into the final period. MSU tied the game early in the fourth on an Arbuckle layup at the 7:14 mark, and from there the Lions roared back in front.
 
Riley converted a steal into a fastbreak layup, Gay put in a shot from close range and Courtney Fields hit a long-range triple to put the Lions back up by seven at 61-54, their largest lead in the contest to that point.
 
The Mustangs were able to hit buckets and earn a few steals, cutting the lead to one possession at 67-64, but Price drained two free throws with 10.4 seconds on the clock to seal the victory for the blue and gold.


Head Coach Jason Burton after the game
On how his team finished down the stretch:
 "It's always tough to win on the road and we found a way to do it. Part of how we did it was we took care of the basketball and we ended up outrebounding them. It was tied at halftime in the rebound department and we won the battle on the boards in the second half. And we took care of the ball. At the first media timeout in the third quarter, we had nine turnovers. To end the game and to only have 12, the last 15 minutes of the game, we only had three turnovers. That's an outstanding job by this group. Midwestern was fighting and scraping and playing hard. I thought they played well, they shot the ball well and we were shorthanded. I thought our girls stepped up and played well." 
 
On the play of Courtney Fields:
"Courtney came out and played fantastic. She hit two big threes for us. I challenged her in the fourth quarter to pressure the ball and she went and got a steal. I thought the way she played was outstanding for us. She is a redshirt freshman and she is a walk-on. She is not on scholarship. Everything she is doing right now, she has earned. She is definitely somebody who, to start the year, you don't expect this from her. The way she has contributed has been outstanding and I'm definitely happy for her."
 
On the play of Penina Faumui:
"Penina came in and, while she may not have scored the ball, she did an outstanding job on the boards. She had six offensive boards. She was going after them and she was determined on the offensive end. She created possessions for us. She got one with about two and a half minutes left in the game. She played really big."
 
On the way the season is unfolding:
"If we keep finding ways to win on the road, doors are going to continue to open up for us. You've got to take it one game at a time and take care of business in Lawton, Oklahoma. That's a team right there that is playing well and they have a lot of talent. We've got to come up with a game plan in the next 24 hours to beat them."