COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team lost a heartbreaker to Texas A&M University-Kingsville on Saturday afternoon. In a wild finish that included four lead changes in the final minute, the Lions lost 67-65 on a three-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining.
 
The loss drops the Lions to 17-7 and 11-5 in the Lone Star Conference. The Javelinas jump to 11-11 and 6-10 in conference play.
 
The Lions return to action on Tuesday for their final home game of the regular season. They face Tarleton State at 7 p.m. at the Field House as part of Play 4 Kay. Spectators are encouraged to wear pink to the game in support of breast cancer awareness.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- There were nine lead changes in the game, with four coming in the final minute of action.
- Jenna Price had her fifth double-double of the season, leading the Lions with 15 points and 13 rebounds. She also had four steals.
- Khala Riley had 13 points, six rebounds and seven assists to go along with four steals.
- Krystal Pickron and Artaejah Gay each had 10 points. Gay hit two shots in the final minute that both regained the lead for the Lions. Brianna Wise added nine points and four rebounds.
- The Lions caused 24 turnovers but gave the ball up 20 times themselves.
- A&M-Commerce had 13 offensive rebounds and turned them into 16 second chance points.
- A&M-Kingsville's Shaq Debose led all scorers with 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting. She made a three-pointer with three seconds left to win the game for the Javelinas. Meesha Wade added 12 points for A&M-Kingsville.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions started off on fire, scoring the game's first seven points in just over a minute. Price drained a three-pointer on the game's first possession, followed by a Riley fast break layup and a Wise jumper. A&M-Commerce had pushed the lead to nine points at 11-2 on a Pickron jumper at the 7:49 mark.
 
From there, the Lion shooting went cold, allowing the Javelinas to get back into the game. A&M-Commerce didn't make a field goal in the final six minutes of the first quarter and only led 16-12 after the first quarter.
 
A&M-Kingsville opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run, swinging the lead to the favor of the guests at 18-16 with eight minutes until the break. Wise nailed a three-pointer to stop the surge and the Lions woke up in the middle of the period. The home side score seven straight points and held Kingsville off the board for three and a half minutes. The lead went to 26-21 for Commerce.
 
Pickron hit a three-pointer with 30 seconds left in the half and the Lions would lead 33-29 at halftime.
 
Riley led the Lions with nine points at halftime. She also had four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Price had seven points and 10 rebounds in the first half. Pickron added seven for the Lions.
 
Debose led all scorers with 14 points at intermission. The Lions shot 34.4 percent in the first half and held the Javelinas to 30.0 percent.
 
The Javelinas tied the game with 7:44 left in the third quarter. The Lions then went on a 5-0 run but then A&M-Kingsville went on a 7-0 run to retake the lead midway through the quarter.
 
Debose continued to come on strong for the Javelinas, scoring six consecutive points to give A&M-Kingsville a six-point lead late in the quarter. Two free throws by Riley sent the Lions into the fourth quarter trailing 52-48.
 
Debose continued her personal run, scoring four more points to open the fourth quarter and the Javilinas went up by eight. The Lions then scored 10 of the next 12 points to tie the game once again. Gay and Pickron each had threes and Wise had two layups in the run that tied the game at 58 with five minutes left.
 
The game went down to the wire, with both teams going through cold stretches. After a field goal with 4:25 left, the Javelinas were held without a field goal until the final shot of the game. The Lions had one field goal over a four minute stretch before Gay hit two shots late. With 49 seconds left, Gay hit a three from the top of the arc to give the Lions the lead.
 
The Javelinas drew a foul on their next possession and sunk both free throws to retake the lead. The Lions called a timeout and with a display of ball movement, Penina Faumui got an open shot from 20 feet out that hit off the back of the iron.
 
A&M-Kingsville got the rebound but the Lions quickly tied up the ball to force a jump. The possession arrow was with the Lions and they were able to run a play. Gay got the ball on the left block and maneuvered right and with a flip of the wrist, the ball rolled from the right side of the rim into the net to give the Lions the lead with 10 seconds left.
 
The Javelinas called their own timeout to advance the ball and Debose got the ball and used a screen to shoot and bury a three pointer with 3.3 seconds to play. The Lions had one last chance but had to go the length of the court and were unable to get off a shot in time.