DENTON– The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team defeated Texas Woman's University 80-73 on Saturday. The Lions jumped out to a big lead in the first half and survived a late TWU run to get the win.
 
The win brings the Lions to 10-5 on the season and 7-1 in the Lone Star Conference. It is the sixth consecutive conference win for the first-place Lions, setting a program record. The Pioneers fall to 6-8 on the season and 3-5 in conference play.
 
The Lions will continue their three-game road trip by traveling to face UT Permian Basin on Thursday. The game will be played at 5:30 p.m. at the UTPB Gymnasium in Odessa.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The win is the sixth straight conference win for the Lions, setting a new program record. The Lions are 7-1 in the Lone Star Conference, their best record through eight games in program history.
- Brianna Wise led all scorers with 27 points. She was a perfect 10-for-10 from the line in her eighth 20+ point game of the season. She also had nine rebounds.
- Artaejah Gay had 17 points, moving into a tie for 8th place all-time in scoring. She passed Lion great Kanani Marshal for ninth place on the all-time scoring list. Gay also pulled down seven rebounds.
- Princess Davis moved into fourth place all-time in assists after dishing out six assists. She also had 15 points.
- Jenna Price had 11 points and nine rebounds.
- The Lions had 22 offensive rebounds in the game.
- The Lions got to the free throw line 31 times and shot 84 percent from the line.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams battled back and forth early in the first quarter, with the teams splitting the first 14 points. The Lions then started to take control of the quarter. They scored eight unanswered, building a 15-7 lead. A&M-Commerce was strong on the offensive glass in the first half, getting multiple second chance shot opportunities. Price had four rebounds in the first quarter. Wise also had a good quarter, scoring eight points in the first period. After the Lions built their lead, the teams again started to trade buckets, with the Lions leading 22-13 at the end of the first quarter.
 
The Lions built their lead to double digits early in the second quarter, scoring the first six points of the quarter. Davis got inside multiple times for layups as the Lions built their lead to 32-15 just two minutes into the quarter. A three from Price then gave the Lions a 20-point advantage. TWU fought back, scoring five in a row to cut into the lead. The Pioneers ended the quarter on another 5-0 run. The Lions took a 40-29 lead into halftime.
 
Wise led all scorers with 15 points in the first half. She was 5-of-12 from the field and also added four offensive rebounds. Jenna Price had seven points and six rebounds, with three offensive rebounds. Artaejah Gay had six points while Princess Davis had four points and five assists. The Lions had 28 rebounds in the first half, 14 of which came on the offensive end.
 
TWU cut the Lion lead to seven points early in the third quarter before the Lions fought back in. Davis scored two jumpers in a row for A&M-Commerce as the lead was built back up to 13 points. Davis had 10 points in the quarter as the Lion lead was built back up to 15 points by the end of the period. A&M-Commerce held a 58-43 lead entering the fourth.

The Lions pushed their lead to 16 points early in the fourth quarter on a three from Gay. The Pioneers then started to chip away at the Lion lead. With 4:18 left, TWU had cut the Lion lead to 11 points. Both teams went scoreless for a two-minute stretch late in the quarter before the Pioneers caught fire late from the field. TWU also began to foul and the Lions were limited to foul shots the rest of the way. With a pair of threes and a three-point play, the Pioneers cut the Lion lead to just four points late in the game. However, the Lions continued to hit their free throw shots and left with the win.