FRISCO– The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team is set to enter the Lone Star Conference Tournament this weekend. The Lions are the third seed and face sixth-seeded Cameron in the first round.
 
CAMERON
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (17-11, 13-7 LSC) vs. Cameron (13-15, 11-9 LSC)
WHERE: Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas
WHEN: Thursday, March 1 at 12 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: portal.stretchinternet.com/lonestar
LIVE AUDIO: ketr.org/
TICKETS: Click HERE
 
The Lions are coming off two losses to end the regular season. The Lions lost to West Texas A&M in a game that got away from them early. They also lost a tight game to UT Permian Basin that slipped away in the final minutes. Head coach Jason Burton is confident his team will learn from those games and correct their mistakes going into the conference tournament.
 
"Looking at the WT game, we played our best basketball in the third quarter," he said. "We were aggressive. We learned that when we are an aggressive team both offensively and defensively, we are a much better team. If our guards are driving and we get into the paint a lot more, we get to the free throw line more and we score more."
 
Burton felt his team played better against UTPB, but just let the game slip away late.
 
"If you look at the first 38 minutes of the UTPB game, we played a really good game," he said. "We were up eight in the last minute and 40 seconds and we had lack of discipline to end the game. We learned how we need to execute down the stretch. We have been in those games before and for whatever reason we had a lapse in that game. It is something that we can address going into the conference tournament. We hope we learn from that experience."
 
The Lions now enter the conference tournament. Burton is excited to see what his team can do. The team has five players who are in at least their fourth college basketball season and Burton knows the team's leaders will be key for a run at a conference championship. He is also excited to have a healthy team going into the tournament, something he hasn't had in previous seasons.
 
"We have a lot of leadership and a lot of experience," Burton said. "We have five players with a lot of Lone Star Conference tournament experience and a lot of players who have been in a lot of games. Those are players who are going to be poised. They have been here before. They understand what it takes to win in the playoffs. I think our team is excited about it. You can tell that the focus this week is a little bit different. I think they are excited to get out there and see what kind of run we can make in three days."
 
The Lions begin the tournament facing Cameron, the sixth seed in the tournament. The teams split in the regular season. The Lions defeated the Aggies on the road in overtime in the first game of conference play in December. The Aggies responded with a win in Commerce in January. The Aggies shot 53 percent from the field and 54 percent from three in that win. Burton hopes with the team's film study that the team plays much tighter defense this time around.
 
"We contributed to them shooting lights out," he said. "They shoot the ball very well. They have Ava Battese, who leads the conference in threes. They take a lot of threes as a team and they are capable of knocking them down. We didn't do a good job of running shooters off the line. We didn't do a good job of pressuring Jamie Bonnarens. She is one of the better players in the conference and is in the conversation for Player of the Year. To let her get shots off and not really be all over her, we didn't do a good enough job defensively.
 
"We realize that and have been able to watch some film. We have to make their shots tougher. I think we will be able to execute offensively. We will do a good job of getting the ball into the paint. We have seen success all year when we do that. Looking at last week and knowing what we have to do to beat Cameron, our team is going to be focused and ready to go."
 
The Lions are one of the few teams in the conference to have defeated every team at least once. Burton is confident no matter who the team will have to face.
 
"I think we have some of the best players in this conference," he said. "When you have that and you have the confidence of being one of the few teams who has beaten everybody, we have done it once and we can do it again."
 
Burton also knows, looking at the bracket, that whoever the team faces is also a team who has beaten his team. He knows the team will have to be at its best to make a run at the conference championship.
 
"If you look at the matchups of who we could potentially face, Cameron, West Texas and the potential of Angelo State or whoever comes out of the other side of the bracket, those teams beat us the second time around," he said. "The first time you play a team and you beat them, it is always harder to beat them the second time around. In the back of your mind you say we have already beaten this team. It is always harder to beat somebody a second time. Knowing that a couple teams have gotten us back, we have to shift our focus and make sure that we prepare and that our attention to detail is at a high level. I think going into this tournament, our team is going to have that."
 
Should the Lions win in the first round, their second round matchup would take place at Noon on Saturday. The championship game will be played at 1 p.m. on Sunday. All games are played at Dr Pepper Arena.