COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team cruised to an 81-40 win over Western New Mexico on Saturday. The Lions took control of the game early and never let up.
 
The win brings the Lions to 6-4 on the season and 3-1 in the Lone Star Conference. The Mustangs fall to 0-9 and 0-4 in conference play.
 
The Lions will next take the court on Dec. 16 with an exhibition game against Stephen F. Austin. The game will take place at 8 p.m. at the William R. Johnson Coliseum in Nacogdoches.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Artaejah Gay led the Lions with 19 points to go along with six rebounds.
- Princess Davis had 14 points and added five rebounds and four assists.
- Courtney Fields had 11 points, three rebounds and two assists.
- Brianna Wise had nine points, six rebounds and three steals. Melanie Ransom and Jenna Price each added six points.
- The Lion defense clamped down in the second half, holding WNMU to just 21 percent shooting in the final two quarters.
-  The Lions got to the free throw line 27 times in the game.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions got off to a hot start, scoring the first eight points of the game. Gay had two early jumpers in the rally. The Lions brought their lead to 10 before WNMU went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead in half.
 
The Lions then scored the final 10 points of the quarter. Fields and Gay each had a three and Price and Agang Tac both added layups as the Lions held a 24-7 lead after one quarter.
 
The Lions continued to roll to start the second quarter, extending their run to 15-unanswered, taking a 22-point lead. Gay scored the first two buckets as she continued to shoot well. She also had a three-point play as the teams began to trade baskets for the next several minutes. The Lions then went on an 8-0 run to take a 25-point lead. Wise had a three and two free throws as the Lions pushed their lead to 25.
 
WNMU cut the lead back down to below 20 before the Lions finished the half on a run. Davis hit a three-point play and Fields hit a three just before the final buzzer, sending the Lions into halftime with a 51-25 lead.
 
Princess Davis had six early points in the second half as the Lions built a 30-point lead. After the four-minute mark, both teams had a scoring slump, with one point going to each side. The Lions led 62-30 after three quarters.
 
Gay had two early buckets in the fourth quarter and Ransom had four points as the Lions took a 40-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. The Lions had a 10-0 run in the fourth to build their lead to as many as 46 points. The game ended with the final score of 81-40.