COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team lost 69-43 against No. 25 West Texas A&M on Thursday. The Lions got off to a sluggish start in the first quarter and could not recover.
 
The loss brings the Lions to 17-10 on the season and 13-6 in the Lone Star Conference. The Lady Buffs improve to 23-4 and maintain their conference lead at 15-4.
 
The Lions return to action for the final game of the regular season on Saturday. The Lions host UT Permian Basin at 2 p.m. Entrance to the game will be free of charge as part of Fill the Field House.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Princess Davis led the team with 11 points while also dishing out three assists.
- Brianna Wise finished with 10 points and also had five rebounds.
- Jocelyn Pierce had eight points on 4-of-6 shooting. Melanie Ransom led the team with eight rebounds.
- The Lions shot 29 percent in the game while WT shot 45 percent. WT scored 24 second chance points and had 17 points off of turnovers.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions started the game cold and the Lady Buffs took advantage, scoring the first 13 points of the game. The Lions got on the board with four minutes left in the period. The Lions scored two buckets in succession but WT continued to shoot well as well, taking a 19-4 lead into the second quarter.
 
WT built its lead to more than 20 early in the second quarter. The Lions started to find some rhythm in the second quarter, with Pierce scoring in the paint once again. The Lady Buffs also continued to hit their shots, pulling their lead to as many as 25 in the first half. WT took a 42-19 lead into halftime.
 
Davis had six points to lead the Lions at halftime. Gay and Pierce added four apiece. The Lions had 11 turnovers in the first half and WT capitalized to further their lead.
 
The Lions outscored WT 13-9 in the third quarter to pull the deficit below 20 points but a strong fourth quarter from the Lady Buffs closed the door. The Lions fell 69-43.