COMMERCE— The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team will face another tough road test as they travel to play No. 5 Angelo State. The Rambelles are currently undefeated and are the top ranked team in the region.
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (9-3, 4-1 LSC) at Angelo State (11-0, 5-0 LSC)
WHERE: Junell Center in San Angelo, Texas
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 7 at 2 p.m.
LIVE STATS: http://statb.us/b/150854
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.angelosports.com/watch/?Live=792
LIVE AUDIO: www.ketr.org
The Lions are coming off of a 78-71 win over A&M-Kingsville. It was the first game back for the Lions in nearly three weeks. Head coach
Jason Burton was happy with the way his team played, especially with the long layoff.
"We've been out for a while and it's easy to get some rust," he said. "It's easy not to play hard at Kingsville. I thought this was the best game we've played in Kingsville since I've been here. It was a close game but I thought we played with energy. Our bench was engaged the entire game. And people came into the game and stepped up."
One of the players to step up was
Abreanna Harrison. She was originally slated to be a redshirt this season, but injuries forced the team to bring her into the lineup. Her first action as a college player was as a starter on the road. Burton liked how she responded in her first game of her career.
"For her first game, she did a good job," he said. "It's tough to just get thrown into the mix, especially at Kingsville against a really good team. But she is going to be a lot more comfortable next game now that she has one under her belt. I thought she did a good job defensively. We are definitely going to count on her. We need her defense and her rebounding. She will come in games and make an impact for us."
Burton liked the way his team took care of the ball against a strong defensive team in the Javelinas. He knows that needs to continue if his team wants to be successful.
"I thought we did a good job of executing against Kingsville," he said. "I knew they were going to throw different defenses at us and try to get us to turn the ball over. We only turned the ball over 11 times, so we did a good job of taking care of the ball."
The Lions now travel to face an undefeated Angelo State team, the No. 5 ranked team in Division II. The Rambelles are 11-0 and are 5-0 in conference play, including an overtime win over Tarleton State on Thursday. Burton talked about the test his team will face.
"We've got a juggernaut this next game," he said. "Angelo hasn't lost to this point. They are a good team, especially at home. We are really going to have to key in again, pay attention to the scout and execute. I thought we did a good job of doing that against Kingsville, and we took care of the basketball. That is something we are going to have to carry over.
Burton also spoke on the depth of Angelo State's team. He knows his team will face an uphill battle, but he is confident his team has the ability to win if they play the way he knows they can.
"Angelo is the deepest team we are going to play against this year," he said. "They are deep at every position and are playing very well. But I think our team, with the growth that we are seeing from the last time we took the floor to right now was huge for us. I think our team is going to go into the Angelo game confident and its going to be anybody's ball game."
