COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team used a 14-4 run in the third quarter to pull away from Texas Woman's University on the way to a 68-57 victory in the Field House on Thursday night.
 
A&M-Commerce moves to 17-9 overall and 13-5 in the Lone Star Conference, while Texas Woman's falls to 9-14 overall and 6-11 in league play. The Lions were playing their first game at home after a five-game road swing in conference play.
 
The Lions are next in action on Thursday, February 22, against West Texas A&M. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Three Lions scored in double figures, led by 18 points from Princess Davis, who also passed out four assists. She moved into sole possession of third place in school history with 289 career assists.
- Brianna Wise scored 16 points to go with four rebounds.
- Artaejah Gay netted 11 points and also pulled down six rebounds.
- Jenna Price scored eight points and had a game-high 14 rebounds, while Melanie Ransom scored seven points and grabbed six boards.
- The Lions capitalized on 25 Pioneer turnovers, converting them into 20 points. This helped A&M-Commerce overcome a 45-38 TWU edge on the boards.
- A&M-Commerce shot 36.9 percent (24-of-65) from the field in the game, with the majority of its points coming inside the paint. The Lions were 2-for-20 from three-point range, but scored 36 points in the paint.
- Head coach Jason Burton moves into second place in school history with his 43^rd Lone Star Conference victory.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions got off to a hot start, scoring the first seven points of the opening quarter. Courtney Fields had a layup and also had an assist off of a steal. Davis had two layups and a three-point play to give the Lions a 7-0 lead. The Pioneers got on the board with a three and the Lions led 10-5 midway through the first quarter.
 
Pierce had a basket and an assist and Davis hit another basket to give the Lions a double-digit lead with three minutes left in the quarter. A late three from TWU sent the Lions into the second quarter with a 20-13 lead.
 
An and-one conversion for the Pioneers brought the Lion lead down to six early in the second quarter. The teams traded baskets early in the quarter and the Lions held a six-point lead at the halfway point of the quarter. The Lions went scored consecutive buckets to bring their lead back up to 10. A bucket by TWU late in the quarter took the Lions into halftime leading 30-22.
 
Davis led all scorers with nine points in the first half. She also had two assists. Price had six points and Wise had five points. The Pioneers had 14 turnovers in the first half while the Lions had just seven.
 
TWU held the Lions scoreless for the first 2:50 of the third quarter, as A&M-Commerce missed its first six field goal attempts of the half.  The Pioneers scored nine straight points to open the frame and led 31-30 with 7:30 to play.
 
A pair of Wise free throws kickstarted a 14-4 Lion run over the next four and a half minutes. Wise scored seven of the 14 points, including a long distance three-pointer to beat the shot clock. A Ransom jumper at the 2:50 mark put the Lions up 44-35. The Pioneers cut that advantage down to five points before the Lions closed the period on a five-point rally to take a 49-39 lead into the final period.
 
The teams traded scores through the first five minutes of the fourth quarter and the Lions held an eight-point margin before pulling away. Gay converted a three-point play and made two free throws, followed by a Ransom layup and free throw, allowing the Lions to push their lead to 16 points at 65-49 with three minutes left for their largest lead of the game. The Pioneers could get no closer than the final 11-point margin, as the Lions swept the season series between the two schools.