COMMERCE— The No. 4 Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team will face No. 5 Tarleton State in the quarterfinal round of the Lone Star Conference Tournament on Friday. The Lions swept the season series against the TexAnns, winning both games by double digits.
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (20-8, 14-6 LSC) vs. Tarleton (13-13, 12-8 LSC)
WHERE: Allen Events Center in Allen, Texas
WHEN: Friday, March 3 at 6 p.m.
LIVE STATS: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=162868
LIVE VIDEO: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/lonestar/portal.htm?eventId=351349&streamType=video
LIVE AUDIO: www.ketr.org
TICKETS: http://bit.ly/LSCAllen2017
The Lions are coming off of a 78-69 road win against UT Permian Basin to end the regular season. The Lions struggled early on in the game but found a way to win in the fourth quarter, a familiar script for head coach
Jason Burton's squad.
"It was a tough place to play and definitely a tough win that we had to earn," he said. "To find a way to win in college athletics is tough, especially on the road. I thought our team did a great job of coming back again. It seems like a familiar story that we are down and find a way to come back. I thought our girls did a great job of staying in the game. We ended the regular season with a win, so it is positive."
With the win, the Lions now have 20 wins. They are only the second team in school history to win 20 or more games. With all the things his team had to overcome, Burton was proud of the accomplishment but hopes the win total won't end there.
"I'm really proud of our staff and our team," he said. "We have faced a lot of adversity this year. To have two season-ending injuries and have a couple more injuries and illnesses throughout the year– to find a way to still win 20 games, it says a lot about our team. It says a lot about our character and their ability to maintain preparation and focus. They have done fantastic all year. But we hope we still have a lot of basketball ahead of us."
The next game on the schedule is against Tarleton State, the fifth seed in the LSC Tournament. The Lions defeated the TexAnns 89-74 on the road is January and 74-64 at the Field House in February. While confident in his team, Burton knows past success doesn't guarantee future success. He knows his team will have to earn the win over TSU, the team who knocked them out of the postseason tournament last season.
"We got a big one on Friday night," he said. "It is tough to beat a team three times. They are going to change some things and they will be well prepared. We are familiar with them and they are familiar with us now. I think it is going to be a different game on Friday than it was last year in the first round of the tournament where we lost in overtime to them. We do feel like we have some revenge and we have to go get that."
While Burton said the primary goal of this weekend was to win the tournament, he also hopes to do enough to earn one of the eight bids into the South Central Regional Tournament set for March 10-12. With his team currently in the eighth slot in the rankings, Burton knows there is little room for error to advance to the regional tournament for the second time in school history.
"It is a big opportunity for us as far as still having a chance to make the NCAA tournament," he said. "If you win three games this weekend, you automatically get in. But I think we have put ourselves in position that even if we don't, if we win a couple, we will find a way to get into the NCAA tournament. But our ultimate goal is to get a ring. I think our girls are focused. They are locked in and it will be a good week for us."
The winner of the game will face the winner of Thursday's 6 p.m. quarterfinal matchup between No. 1 Eastern New Mexico and No. 8 Texas A&M-Kingsville. That semifinal game will be played on Saturday at 6 p.m. The championship game will be played Sunday at 1 p.m. All games will be played at the Allen Events Center.
