COMMERCE— The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team will host conference co-leader No. 12 Angelo State on Thursday. The Rambelles beat the Lions by seven in January.
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (16-6, 10-4 LSC) vs. Angelo State (18-2, 12-2 LSC)
WHERE: The Field House in Commerce, Texas
WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m.
LIVE STATS: http://statb.us/b/147062
LIVE VIDEO: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/tamucommerce/
LIVE AUDIO: www.ketr.org
TICKETS: http://lionathletics.com/sports/2016/11/18/2016-17-basketball-ticket-information.aspx
The Lions are coming off of an 85-67 win over Eastern New Mexico on Saturday. The Lions trailed by four at halftime but held ENMU to just 21 points in the second half, something that stood out to head coach
Jason Burton as he recalled the game.
"The key to the Eastern game was coming out in the third quarter and holding them scoreless for the first six and a half minutes and them only scoring 21 points in the second half after scoring 46 in the first half," he said. "I'm really proud of our defensive effort and how we came out and were focused in the second half. It was 22-7 in the third quarter. That's incredible after a back and forth first half. To come out and have that effort against, at that time the leader in the conference, that was impressive. But we've got to do it again tomorrow."
For their efforts last week, two Lions earned Player of the Week honors.
Artaejah Gay was named Offensive Player of the Week and
Brianna Wise was named Defensive Player of the Week.
"She is definitely talented as far as scoring the ball and has been for the last three years," Burton said of Gay. "She is finally starting to get recognized. When you have a big win like that, you deserve the recognition. Then you look at Brianna as Defensive Player of the Week. Throughout the year we have had different people, those two people being candidates and
Khala Riley,
Jenna Price and
Krystal Pickron at times could have been awarded from week to week, depending on the week.
"I'm just excited to see those two get recognized and it's nice for them to get recognized in the same week. We have a really talented squad. It takes beating a team like Eastern New Mexico for the conference to really see. We are excited for the challenge this Thursday. It is another chance to showcase what we can do and we feel excited and feel good about our chances because we are at home."
The Lions now face Angelo State in a rematch from earlier this season. The Lions lost on the road to the Rambelles 78-71 in a close matchup. Burton knows it will be another difficult team to beat, but he is confident his team will be prepared and able to win the game against the No. 12 ranked team in all of Division II.
"I remember a back and forth game," he said of the previous matchup. "They had some players step up that played well against us that hadn't necessarily shown that throughout the season. Our game plan was to have somebody else other than their leading scorers step up and beat us, and they did. We will have to change some things for our game tomorrow."
ASU is the top scoring team in the conference, averaging more than 80 points per game. Burton knows it will take a team effort to slow down the high-octane Rambelle offense.
"I think our defense has stepped up recently," he said. "We have to find ways to bother them and force them into some difficult shots, which is no easy task because there is nobody that you can really help off of. You really have to play a solid team defensive game. That's our plan. We are going to come out and know that the five players that are out there on the floor, they have to be bought in to playing team defense."
