COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team saw a late lead disappear, then turned on the firepower in an 86-79 overtime win over St. Edward's in the Field House on Friday evening.
 
The Lions even their record at 2-2 for the year with the win, while St. Edward's takes its first loss at 3-1. A&M-Commerce is next in action on Tuesday at 6 p.m., hosting St. Mary's.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions shot 43.5 percent (30-of-69) from the floor and made 5-of-16 (31.3 percent) of their three-point attempts.
- Princess Davis (Shreveport, La.) became the 13^th player in program history to score 1,000 career points with a basket in the second quarter. She finished the night with 16 points, six steals, four assists, and two rebounds.
- Ekaterina Zhibareva (Liske, Russia) was the Lions' top scorer with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, also grabbing eight rebounds.
- Chania Wright (DeSoto) scored 15 points and Mykiel Burleson (Pflugerville) notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Tahnia McDaniel (Euless – Trinity) rounded out five Lions in double figures with 11 points and six boards.
- The Lions held a 46-33 rebounding advantage with 21 offensive rebounds.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first quarter went back-and-forth throughout, as neither side could take a two-possession lead until the Hilltoppers' Lexi Cunningham went on a personal 5-0 run to give SEU a 16-11 lead with 2:29 left in the period. The Lions responded with a 6-0 surge on three Davis free throws and a Wright triple to regain the lead. The score was tied at 18-all after 10 minutes of action.
 
The Lions held St. Edward's off the scoreboard for the first three minutes of the second quarter, going on an 8-0 run. Maddison Glass (Missouri City – Hightower) capped the run with a layup to make it 26-18 with seven minutes left in the half. Zhibareva's fastbreak layup gave the Lions their largest lead of the night at 30-21, but the Toppers cut the lead to a point with an 8-0 run. Burleson hit a jumper in the paint in the final minute and the Lions took a 36-31 lead into the dressing room at the half.
 
As in the second quarter, the Lions roared out of the gates in the third, scoring the first eight points. Wright's fastbreak layin after a Davis steal game A&M-Commerce a 44-31 lead with just under eight minutes remaining. SEU was able to chip away at that lead throughout the quarter, and the Lion lead stood at 56-50 entering the fourth period.
 
The Hilltoppers were the team to start a quarter hot in the fourth, as the Lions were scoreless for the first three minutes. A pair of Burleson free throws snapped an 8-0 St. Edward's run and the game was tied at 58-58 with 7:00 to go. A&M-Commerce went on another eight-point run, holding SEU off the board for nearly four and a half minutes. McDaniel's jumper in the paint with 2:11 left gave the Lions a 68-62 lead. Unfortunately for the Lions, that was their last field goal in regulation, and the game went to overtime tied at 69-all.
 
Wright's three-point prowess powered the Lions in the extra frame. Her first triple game the Lions a 77-73 lead with 3:19 to go, and her second made it a five-point game at 82-77. The Lions limited St. Edward's to two field goals in the final half of overtime and connected on four straight free throws to seal the win.