LAWTON, Okla.– The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team picked up a 79-69 overtime win over Cameron to open their Lone Star Conference season on Thursday. The Lions overcame a cold first quarter to run away with the game in the final five minutes.
 
The win brings the Lions to 4-3 on the season and 1-0 in the LSC. The Aggies fall to 2-4 and 0-1 in conference play.
 
The Lions return to the court on Saturday at 2 p.m. for a road match against Midwestern State in Wichita Falls.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- With a three-pointer two minutes into the third quarter, Artaejah Gay became the 12th Lion in program history to score 1,000 points in her career. The senior finished the game with 13 points, all in the second half and overtime.
- Brianna Wise scored 26 points, topping her career high for the third time this season. She also had nine rebounds and was 8-of-12 from the foul line.
- Melanie Ransom had 14 points, making all six of her free throws.
- Jenna Price had her first double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
- Princess Davis had seven points, Agang Tac had four points and Lauren Parker had two points and three assists.
- The Lions overcame an 18-11 deficit late in the first quarter after a pair of back-to-back Cameron three-pointers.
- A&M-Commerce shot 41.3 percent from the field in the game (26-of-63), while limiting the Aggies to a 32.4 percent clip (23-of-71). The Lions made 24 free throws to the Aggies' 15.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
After scoring the first shot of the game, the Lions then missed five shots in a row. CU took advantage and went up 6-2 early in the game. Ransom hit a three and two free throw to bring the game within one point midway through the quarter. After a Wise layup, Cameron hit two consecutive three pointers to bring their lead to seven. The Lions trailed 18-12 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Wise hit a jumper and a layup early in the second quarter as the Lions cut into the Aggie lead. The Lions finally took the lead back late in the second quarter. Davis hit a layup to tie the game and Price hit a layup in transition from Davis to give the Lions a 23-21 lead. The Lions pushed their lead to four before a late Cameron basket sent A&M-Commerce with a 27-25 lead. The Lions outscored the Aggies 15-7 in the quarter.
 
It was a back and forth battle to start the second half. The teams were tied multiple times as the Lions would score before CU would answer back to tie. The Lions broke the trend and took a four-point lead midway through the third quarter. The Aggies then hit back-to-back threes to tie the game at 40. The Lions took a late lead in the quarter and led 48-44 entering the final period.
 
Tac hit a layup early in the second quarter as the Lions took their largest lead of the game, a five-point lead, with seven minutes to play. The Aggies then went on a 5-0 run to tie the game again.
 
CU then found their range, hitting consecutive threes again to take a four-point lead of their own. With a minute to play, the Lions looked to overcome the deficit. Gay hit a jumper with 52 seconds left to cut the lead to just two. The Lions then caused a turnover and after Wise missed a jumper, she got her own rebound and drew a foul. She knocked in both free throws to tie the game with 22 seconds left. The Lion defense held true and the teams went into overtime tied at 61.
 
Gay hit an early jumper in the lane to begin the overtime period. Wise then scored on a coast-to-coast layup to give A&M-Commerce the early four-point lead. The Aggies cut the lead down to just one point before Wise hit a layup to bring the lead back up to three.
 
Late in the quarter, Price hit a shot in the lane and the Lions took a six-point lead with just over a minute to play. After the Aggies made a bucket, they started to foul to try and extend the game. However, the Lions hit their free throws and escaped Lawton with the 10-point win.