SAN ANGELO – The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team fell just short of an upset over No. 5 Angelo State University on Saturday, falling 78-71. The Lions had the lead at halftime but let the game slip away in the final few minutes.
 
The loss brings the Lions to 9-4 on the season and 4-2 in the Lone Star Conference. ASU improves to 12-0 on the season and 6-0 in conference play.
 
The Lions return to action on Tuesday as they travel to Stephenville to face Tarleton State in the final game of A&M-Commerce's seven-game road trip. The game will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Wisdom Gym in Stephenville.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Krystal Pickron led all scorers with 22 points. She also tied her career-high in assists with seven.
- Jenna Price had her second consecutive double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. She has three double-doubles on the season. She is averaging a double-double in conference play.
- Artaejah Gay also had a double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
- Natalie Hessong had 10 points, going 3-of-5 from behind the arc.
- The Lions shot 41 percent from the field and 39 percent from behind the arc, marking their highest three-point percentage of the season.
- Taylor Dorsey led ASU with 21 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter. She also had four assists. Christina Robinson had 17 points and Jasmine Prophet had 12 points for the Belles.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED The Lions were dialed on from the start, as Pickron hit a three pointer and then Abreanna Harrison took a charge to get the Lions the ball back to start the game on a 5-2 run. 
 
The Rambelles began to catch fire from three, hitting a slew from deep to take the lead and building their lead to eight midway through the quarter. 
 
The Lions finished the quarter strong, scoring seven consecutive points to trim the lead. A last second shot from ASU gave the 'Belles a 19-16 lead after one. 
 
ASU continued to shoot well and got its lead back to eight in the first minute of the second quarter. However, the Lions started to catch fire as the quarter progressed, hitting 9-of-16 shots, including three from downtown to take the lead back. Price hit three buckets in the quarter and Hessong also hit two threes in the quarter.
 
The Lions also began to respond better to the Rambelle ball movement, shutting down the passing lanes and quickly responding to the ball swinging back and forth. ASU shot just 5-of-18 in the second quarter and the Lions took a 37-33 lead into the half.

Hessong led the Lions with 10 points, including a perfect 3-of-3 from behind the arc. Price had nine points and six rebounds. Pickron and Gay each had eight points in the half. The Lions shot 43 percent from the field and 46 percent from three.
 
The Rambelles struggled from the field in the first half, shooting just 30.6 percent from the field, including 28 percent in the second quarter. Christina Robinson scored 12 points in the half. Taylor Dorsey had seven points for ASU.
 
The third quarter was back and forth for much, as ASU corrected its shooting woes from the second quarter and started to hit buckets. However, the Lions matched them shot for shot. The lead changed hands multiple times in the quarter, with both teams executing equally well. Price hit a buzzer-beater of her own to take the Lions into the fourth quarter trailing 53-52.
 
ASU started the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run, all coming from Dorsey. The Lions continued to fight through the full-court pressure of ASU, and the run was stopped by Pickron, who had a three-point play and another bucket in transition to cut the lead back.
 
Dorsey continued to score for ASU and the Belles took their first double-digit lead of the game with four and a half minutes to go in the game. Dorsey had 12 points in the fourth quarter.
 
The Lions continued to battle until the end but missed multiple free throws that could have closed the gap. A final push was halted and the Belles ran out the clock.

Head Coach Jason Burton after the game
On his team's performance against Angelo State 
"I thought we did a good job against them the whole game. It was a back-and-forth game and they went on a run that got the lead out to 10, but then we went on our own run. We got in our press, forced some turnovers and cut it back down to three. I thought the three-pointer we gave up in the corner after that took some of the wind out of our sails but we still played hard. I thought this was one of our better efforts all year.
 
We're talking about one of the best teams in the country and we held control of the lead for a good portion of the game. I thought we missed a lot of open shots. We had a lot of good looks, and we missed free throws. That's something that's been a strength for us early on, but the last two games, we shot a poor percentage. When you shoot 58 percent… If you make four of those, things change. The dynamics of the game change.  At times when we'd go on a run, we'd miss free throws or miss an open shot. Great job by Angelo State, but we will see this team again."
 
On his team's rebounding
"I thought we rebounded really well, but gave up some key offensive boards late in the second half. At the end of the third quarter, they had possession for about a minute because of that. You can't have that happen, because if you give a team this good that many opportunities, they'll wind up scoring. We out-rebounded them, but gave up some key rebounds that we shouldn't have, and that's something we will learn from.
 
I love the way we came out and fought. We know that when we play this team at our place, it's going to be a different game."