COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team close out the 2017-18 regular season with two home games. The Lions will face No. 25 West Texas A&M on Thursday and UT Permian Basin on Saturday.
 
West Texas A&M
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (17-9, 13-5 LSC) vs. No. 25 West Texas A&M (22-4, 14-4 LSC)
WHERE: The Field House in Commerce, Texas
WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 22 at 5:30 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: lionathletics.com/live
TICKETS: Click HERE
 
UT Permian Basin
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce vs. UT Permian Basin (7-19, 5-13 LSC)
WHERE: The Field House in Commerce, Texas
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: lionathletics.com/live
TICKETS: Click HERE
 
The Lions are coming off of a split last week. The team lost on the road to Tarleton State before bouncing back with a home win over Texas Woman's. The loss to TSU was the Lions' fifth road game in a row and head coach Jason Burton felt his team just ran out of steam in the final quarter.
 
"From the get-go, we knew that Tarleton game was going to be a tough one," he said. "Coming off of your two longest road trips and then you have a short turnaround at Tarleton. I felt like we didn't play our best game but I also felt like going into the fourth quarter, we were still in position to win that game. You saw that we kind of ran out of gas a little bit. That's when we started to turn the ball over more than we should have and shots just weren't falling in the fourth quarter."
 
The Lions were able to bounce back with their first home game of the month with an 11-point win over Texas Woman's. The team was excited to be back home playing in front of their own fans. With two more games on the regular season schedule, they are happy they are at the Field House.
 
"Our team is a little bit more relaxed and stress free being back home," said senior Brianna Wise. "We have been on the bus for about three weeks. We are happy to be back home. We have two tough games coming up but just being back home, I feel like everybody is ready to play even harder and more excited with more energy."
 
Burton echoed the sentiment. With a crucial match on Thursday against No. 25 West Texas A&M next on the schedule, Burton knows the home crowd will help the team. He is also excited to have a chance to sweep WT, something that has only happened once in the school's history.
 
"I'm excited to be back home," he said. "We play well at home in our comfort zone in front of our home fans. I think this is the first time we have had a legitimate chance to sweep West Texas. We beat them in Canyon and we are one of three teams with a legit chance to win the conference this weekend."
 
The Lions defeated the Lady Buffs 59-55 in Canyon earlier in the season. The team pulled off the upset while playing shorthanded. Regular starter Artaejah Gay missed the game due to injury and the team rallied to defeat WT. Burton is excited to see what the team can do against WT with Gay back in the lineup.
 
"Playing that game without Tae and playing several games without her, that allowed some people to get some valuable experience and confidence," Burton said. "Now we go into this game against West Texas with Tae, which adds a lot of scoring for us. That is the sixth leading scorer in the conference. To go in and win there without her and her strong inside presence, I think it gives our team some confidence.
 
"To have her back is going to be key for us. We can score in the paint a lot better and they have to account for that. Everybody's shots are getting easier because they have to account for her on the floor. It is good to have her back."
 
The Lions will then face UT Permian Basin on Saturday. Being senior day, it will be the last home game for several players on the roster. Wise was sentimental when the topic was brought up.
 
"I already know I'm going to cry on senior night," she said. "My two years went by fast. Coach Burton stresses to us that our time is going to go by fast. I'm happy I got to be here for two years."
 
The Lions are in third place in the conference standings, one game behind WT and Angelo State. Should the Lions sweep the weekend and if ASU loses one game, the Lions would claim a share of their second ever LSC Championship. The team would also claim the No. 1 seed in the LSC Tournament via tiebreaker. Burton has his team focused on taking care of things on their own end.
 
"If we take care of business this weekend and Angelo drops a game, we are the No. 1 seed," he said. "That is the one thing on our mind. No matter what, we have the chance to finish top two and have a chance to get that number one seed. We have a lot to play for this week."