COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team lost to St. Mary's 62-51 on Tuesday night. The Lions played a close first half but could not overcome a strong third quarter from the Rattlers.
 
The loss brings the Lions to 2-3 on the season while St. Mary's improves to 5-1 on the year.
 
The Lions return to the court on Sunday for a road game against Southeastern Oklahoma State. The game will be played at 2 p.m. at Bloomer Sullivan Arena in Durant, Okla.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Chania Wright (DeSoto) led the Lions with 13 points and also pulled in five rebounds.
- Ekaterina Zhibareva (Liske, Russia) had eight points and five boards while Princess Davis (Shreveport, La.) added seven points and a team-high three assists.
- Mykiel Burleson (Pflugerville) had six points and led the team with six rebounds while Alexis Bryant (Pflugerville) had seven points and five boards.
- The Lions shot 29 percent in the game, including 22 percent in the first half. St. Mary's shot 42 percent in the contest.
- While A&M-Commerce won the turnover battle 19-to-16, they lost the points off turnovers battle 22-to-11.
- There was one tie and four lead changes in the game. The Lions never led by more than one point in the game and never led after the second quarter.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rattlers got off to a quick start, netting the first eight points of the game. The Lions missed their first four shots of the game. Davis got the Lions on the board with six minutes left in the quarter. After a three from St. Mary's brought its lead to nine, the Lions fought back to cut the lead to three, including two jumpers in the paint from Bryant. The teams traded field goals and the Lions went into the second quarter trailing 15-12.
 
The Lions tied the game at 15 early in the second quarter and took their first lead of the game on a three from Wright. The lead traded hands twice more before the Rattlers ended the half with two threes. St. Mary's took a 25-21 lead into halftime. St. Mary's was held to just 27 percent shooting in the quarter but the Lions shot 20 percent. Bryant led the team with six points in the half while Davis had five.
 
The Lions fought to begin the second half but could not overtake the Rattler lead. The teams traded field goals through the first seven minutes of the quarter before St. Mary's went on a 9-0 run to push their lead to double digits. The Lions went into the fourth quarter trailing 43-32.
 
A three from Wright to open the quarter cut the Rattler lead to single digits but St. Mary's quickly pounced again, pushing their lead once again to double figures, a lead the Lions could not seem to chip into. The closest the Lions could get was an eight-point deficit in the final seconds.