COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team will host two Lone Star Conference games this week. The Lions host Tarleton State on Tuesday and Texas Woman's on Saturday.
 
Tarleton State
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (8-4, 3-1 LSC) vs. Tarleton State (9-3, 2-2 LSC)
WHERE: The Field House in Commerce, Texas
WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 8 at 5:30 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: lionathletics.com/live
LIVE AUDIO: ketr.org
TICKETS: Click HERE
 
Texas Woman's
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce vs. Texas Woman's (5-7, 2-2 LSC)
WHERE: The Field House in Commerce, Texas
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 12 at 2 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: lionathletics.com/live
LIVE AUDIO: ketr.org
TICKETS: Click HERE
 
The Lions are coming off of two conference road wins against MSU Texas and Cameron. Head coach Jason Burton liked the way his team bought into the defensive game plans and helped lead the Lions to double-digit victories.
 
"I think our defense has been a catalyst for us," Burton said. "I thought they bought into a defensive game plan and in both games, they really executed. That allowed us to get out in transition. I'm really proud of how our girls are playing. They are playing at an extremely high level. We have challenged them to come out of the gates in both games and get out to good starts and they accomplished that. That set the tone for the rest of the game. We have to keep that going."
 
The Lions were able to get to the free throw line in both games, shooting 65 free throws over the course of the last two games. Burton liked the way his team attacked the paint and drew contact.
 
"That is getting back to how we want to play," he said. "You look back to other teams since I've been here, we find ways to get the ball into the paint and that has enabled us to get to the free throw line. We have gotten back to doing that. We want to put pressure on the defense. Our girls got back to basics and did a good job of getting us to the free throw line."
 
The Lions were also able to pull down rebounds, especially in the Cameron game, when the team had a +21 advantage on the boards. Burton liked the way his team flocked to get rebounds, especially Alexis Bryant, who averaged a double-double over the week.
 
"She really stepped up," Burton said of Bryant. "This last week was her coming out party. Those were her two best games as a Lion this year. She was great defensively both games and kept herself in good position to get rebounds. She did a good job of outlet passes and getting the ball up the floor. But she was also effective in the paint. Our guards did a better job these last few games of feeding her the ball inside and let her go to work. And when she got her opportunities to go to the basket, she did a good job doing that."
 
Burton knows against Tarleton that getting to rebounds and defending the paint will be paramount against two former All-LSC forwards.
 
"Tarleton State has really good bigs," he said. "Mackenzie Hailey and Katie Webster have been two of the best bigs in the conference and were All-Conference players last year. The good thing is we have been playing team defense and I think our girls are going to keep buying into the defensive game plans."
 
With both TSU and Texas Woman's just below the Lions in the LSC standings, Burton sees this week as a chance to distance themselves from the back and stay in the upper part of the standings. He knows that defending home court will go a long way to helping his team accomplish its goals.
 
"By the end of this week, there is an opportunity for ourselves to climb and separate ourselves from the other teams that are at the bottom," he said. "On top of that, the teams at the top play each other. So, there is an opportunity, if we take care of business, to move up in the rankings. We have to defend home court. In December we did a great job of that with our three home games. We need to come out and keep that same tone going of defending the Field House."