COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team will begin its Lone Star Conference season with road games against Cameron and Midwestern State.
 
Cameron
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (3-3) vs. Cameron (2-3)
WHERE: Aggie Gym in Lawton, Okla.
WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 30 at 5:30 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: https://www.oksportsnet.com/
 
Midwestern State
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce vs. Midwestern State (3-2)
WHERE: D.L. Ligon Coliseum in Wichita Falls, Texas
WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 2 at 2 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msu/
 
The Lions split two home games last week. They defeated LeTourneau University on Wednesday 102-47 before falling to Southeastern Oklahoma State 78-66 on Sunday. From the LeTourneau game, head coach Jason Burton liked seeing his team shoot with confidence, especially Courtney Fields, who tied a Division II record for most three pointers made in a row with nine.
 
"I saw a lot of confidence from her," he said. "We came out at the beginning of the year a little shaky from three-point range. To make nine consecutive threes is really impressive. I wish I would have known or I would have pulled her out before she shot that tenth three, or she could have tied another NCAA record. I'm definitely proud of her. It is good to see that confidence in her and to see that ability in her. We hope that's not the only nine three-pointer night for Courtney. At least half of that. We want her to continue to shoot with confidence, along with the rest of our team."
 
After a frigid start to the season from the field, and especially from behind the arc, Burton is happy to see his team not only hitting shots more frequently, but without hesitation.
 
"We have to continue to shoot the ball well," he said. "The game before that, to see Brianna Wise to shoot 5-of-5 from three against St. Ed's, we are starting to shoot the ball with confidence. We are going to need that in conference moving forward."
 
The Lions then hosted SOSU. The game was tight in the third quarter before an injury on the court stopped play. The Lions lost a little spark and fell behind in the fourth quarter of the game. Burton knows his team will learn from the adversity and react better to it moving forward.
 
"Anytime that happens and your captain leaves the floor and is done for the game, it kind of takes the life out of you," he said. "That is something that we have to learn from. Adversity is going to hit us in different ways, whether it is a call not going our way or shots not falling– whatever may come up. Things are going to happen to us, on the road especially. We have to learn how to bounce back tougher than that."
 
 
Burton also didn't like the way his team started the game. He thought the team came in expecting to win, instead of knowing they had to earn the win against a good team. Burton knows that shouldn't happen and knows the team will learn from those mistakes going into the conference season.
 
"The good thing is it is not conference yet," he said. "We start conference this week. You have to learn as much as you can about your team and about yourself before conference starts. Then you adjust and find ways to get it right for conference. That's what we have to do right now."
 
On Thursday, the Lions start their conference season against Cameron. Burton is expecting another season of battles against what he thinks is the top conference in the country in Division II.
 
 
"I think that the Lone Star Conference is the best conference in Division II," he said. "I really believe that. From top to bottom our conference is tough. I think, if anything, our preseason taught us that we have to be prepared, night in and night out, to come out and play. We can't just assume, based on somebody's record, that they can't play. Everybody in this conference can play basketball. I think we did that a couple times in the preseason. We thought we were better than we were and assumed we were going to just roll the balls out and win. We have to make sure that every day, we come in and respect our opponents and prepare the right way. We have to know that every team we are playing is going to be tough."
 
The Lions start their season with a road trip that has always been tough and one that Burton knows will be difficult again. With trips to Lawton, Okla. and Wichita Falls on the schedule, Burton knows it won't be easy.
 
"We lost in Lawton last year. And Midwestern has always been a tough place for us to play. It always has come down to being a close game in both those gyms. We know that Cameron is going to play fast. They are going to play up and down. We have to be able to slow them down and make sure that we value every possession. In years past we have turned the ball over a lot up there and haven't done a good job of valuing the ball."
 
Burton thinks the games will come down to defense. Burton has seen how well his team can defend. He knows it will take a full effort in both games to come out victorious.
 
"Our defense can be a strength of ours when we lock into playing," he said. "That is something that didn't happen against Southeastern. This week, we have to get in and watch film and be in attack mode defensively. Our offense really comes when our defense is strong. We have to get back to playing good defense."