TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The No. 20 Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team defeated Northeastern State 74-50 on Saturday afternoon. After a close first half, the Lions ran away with the game in the second half, earning their sixth double-figure win of the season.
 
The win brings the Lions to 7-0 on the season, while the River Hawks fall to 2-5 on the year.
 
The Lions return to action on Saturday as they head to Austin to play a rematch against St. Edward's. The game will be played at 2 p.m. at the Recreation and Convocations Center.
 
HEAD COACH JASON BURTON AFTER THE GAME
On posting an undefeated November: "It's a blessing to be able to coach such a great group of young ladies. This team played a tough seven game schedule in 22 days and found a way to go undefeated. And there is still a lot of room for growth."
On the first half: "We guarded extremely well again in the first quarter but didn't run offense like we are capable of the whole first half. And we've been having second quarter let downs the last four games that we have to correct."
On adjustments at halftime: "I love how we regrouped at half at came out and played like a high level team. Today we showed our depth and I think that is what will make us tough to beat at the end of the season."
On the play from the bench: "DesiRay Kernal, Keekee Nowlin and Juliana Louis played their best games as Lions, something that we've known they can do and it finally came out today. We are a team that is tough to beat when our bench plays like that. Our starters came out the game sluggish but our bench gave us the spark we needed to get ahead early. And our starters, really came out the second half playing like one of the best units in the country. I believe they outscored Northeastern by 15 in the first four or five minutes of the quarter. And they did it with defense! I love how this team is playing on the defensive end right now."
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Juliana Louis (Long Beach, Calif.) posted her first double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. She went 6-of-7 from the field.
- DesiRay Kernal (Newton, Kan.) also had her first double-double of her collegiate career, posting 11 points and 10 rebounds, including five offensive boards.
- Dyani Robinson (Cypress – Langham Creek) also finished in double figures with 11 points, including five free throws.
- The Lions set a season-high free throw percentage, hitting 16 of their 17 shots from the charity stripe.
- The Lions finished +16 on the glass, pulling in 14 offensive rebounds while only allowing three offensive boards.
- The team committed a season-low nine turnovers, finishing +6 in that department.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions got off to a hot start, scoring the first eight point of the game, including three-point plays from both Kernal and Robinson. Leading 10-2 with three and a half minutes left, neither team could find the basket for the remainder of the quarter, with the Lions leading 10-2 after 10 minutes of play.
 
The River Hawks found their stroke in the second quarter, starting the quarter on a 5-0 run to get back into the game. Louis had back-to-back jumpers go in to bring the Lion lead back up to nine point. Robinson had a late three-point play to send the Lions into halftime with a 27-21 lead.
 
Louis had 10 point in the first half, and also pulled in seven rebounds, while Robinson had a pair of three-point plays.
 
As they did to begin the game, the Lions came out of the locker room strong once again, starting the third quarter on an 8-0 run, including a pair of jumpers from Jones. The Lions attacked the paint, scoring multiple buckets to push their lead to 16 points. The lead was pushed to as many as 21 in the quarter, as the Lions outscored NSU by 10, leading 55-39 heading into the final quarter.
 
After NSU cut the Lion lead to 12 early in the fourth, the Lions took off once more, hitting shot after shot. The Lions pushed their lead to as many as 28, winning the game handily.