COMMERCE- The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team cruised to a 69-54 win over Ouachita Baptist on Thursday afternoon in the annual Education Day game, presented by Alliance Bank. A&M-Commerce hosted a crowd of more than 1,400, comprised primarily of students from local school districts, with some coming from as far as southern Oklahoma. After a tightly-contested first half, the Lions came out firing in the third quarter to pull away for their third consecutive win to begin the season.

The win brings the Lions to 3-0 on the year, while the Tigers fall to 0-3. The Lions return to action on Nov. 21 as they host St. Mary's in the first game of Lone Star Conference play. The game will be played at 5:30 p.m. at the Field House, followed by the Lion men's basketball team against the Rattlers at 7:30 p.m.
 
Tickets for the doubleheader are available at WeAreLionsTix.com, by calling (903) 468-8756 or by visiting the Lion Sales & Service Box Office in the Field House.

HEAD COACH JASON BURTON AFTER THE GAME
On the Education Day crowd: "It's good to come home and get a win in front of our amazing crowd. I really want to thank everyone who put this game together, our Education Day game. It's always great to have all of the kids here. We had a huge faculty and staff turnout as well so I want to thank the president for allowing them to come. This environment was amazing. You come to college to play in environments like this."
On the play of Bryant and Jones: "We had some returners really step up in this one. I thought Alexus Jones was unbelievable, she didn't miss a shot. Alexis Bryant also played well. Both of them had 15 points and Alexis Bryant was dominant on the boards in the game. She had nine in the first half and five more in the second. I thought she played great."
On the room for improvement: "It's fun to have teachable moments when it comes with a win. We have high expectations for ourselves. Even though we won by 15, I don't think we played our best game. That's exciting to win by 15 at home and feel like you have a lot of room for improvement. Next week we start conference play. We have our work cut out for us with two very good teams coming in."
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Alexus Jones (Aledo) had 15 points in the game, hitting all six of her shots from the field. She also had two rebounds, two steals, and a block in her 15 minutes of play.
- Alexis Bryant (Pflugerville) also had 15 points and had a double-double with a career-high 14 rebounds. She also had three assists and a pair of blocks.
- Chania Wright (DeSoto) also finished in double figures with 13 points, and led the team with four assists.
- The teams combined for 48 turnovers in the game, with each committing 24.
- A&M-Commerce had 19 offensive rebounds in the game, scoring 19 second-chance points. The team also scored 20 points off of turnovers and 36 points in the paint.
- The Lions are 3-0 for the sixth time in program history and the first time since 2012-13.

HOW IT HAPPENED 
The Lions got off to a hot start, scoring seven points in a row early in the game to establish a lead. Bryant had five early points as the Lions led 9-4 at the midway mark of the quarter. After Dyani Robinson (Cypress - Langham Creek) had consecutive buckets, OBU began to climb back in the quarter and finished on a 6-2 run to take a 15-14 lead into the second quarter.
 
The Lions again got off to a good start to start the second quarter, beginning on an 8-0 run over a four-minute span. Jones scored a three-pointer and also a three-point play, giving A&M-Commerce a 22-15 lead. It was back and forth the rest of the quarter as the Lions went into halftime with a 30-26.
 
Bryant had nine points at the half to lead the Lions, while also pulling down a team-high nine rebounds. The Lions shot 39 percent in the first half, while OBU shot 41 percent.
 
The Lions came out on fire to start the second half and shot the lights out, shooting 64 percent from the field. A&M-Commerce began the half on a 15-0 run, fueled by Jones and Wright. Jones had 11 points in the rally, getting inside the paint multiple times. The Lions pushed their lead to as many as 22 in the quarter, taking a 54-36 lead into the final quarter.
 
After a back and forth start to the fourth quarter, OBU went on a small run to cut the Lion lead to 13 points. The Lions clamped down in the final minutes to leave with the 15-point win.