DENTON– The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team defeated Texas Woman's 69-51 on Thursday night. The Lions took the lead for good late in the first quarter and pulled away in the fourth quarter for the win.
 
The win brings the Lions to 16-8 on the season and 11-5 in the Lone Star Conference. TWU falls to 9-14 and 6-9 in conference play. The Lions swept the season series against the Pioneers.
 
The Lions are off for a week before returning for their final two home games of the regular season. The Lions host Eastern New Mexico on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The Lion men against ENMU will immediately follow. Tickets to the doubleheader can be purchased 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 physicality of the game: "That was a physical game by both teams and neither team shot a lot of free throws. I think this game will more closely resemble what we will see at the conference tournament. Some of those plays where there was contact, it wasn't enough to warrant a foul call tonight. A lot of our offense typically comes from the free throw line. We had to make sure we finished plays and were more efficient. And we shot 41 percent, which is one of our better games when we weren't getting to the line."
On the defensive effort: "When we play defense like this, when you hold a team like this to 51 points, I think we are going to win a lot of games. That is something that has to continue down the stretch. I thought our intensity from start to finish and our attention to detail was at a high level. That is the type of playoff basketball we have to play."
On the full court pressure: "That has been a staple for us. We want to speed up the game and make them uncomfortable. Then TWU does a nice job of getting the ball to their post players and when we give them less than 20 seconds to set up their offense, we feel like we did a good job. I thought we sped them up and got some turnovers that led to some easy buckets in the second half.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Alexis Bryant led the way for the Lions with 15 points in the game. She had 11 points in the second half.
- Chania Wright (DeSoto) had 14 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the field.
- Alexus Jones (Lewisville – Aledo) added 13 points.
- Ekaterina Zhibareva (Liske, Russia) had 12 points as the Lions pounded the paint for 42 points.
- Princess Davis (Shreveport, La.) added eight points and also had eight rebounds and seven assists.
- The Lions shot 41 percent in the game and held TWU to 34 percent shooting.  The Lions also had a 22-2 lead in fast break points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Jones hit an early three for the Lions as they took the lead early. There were several lead changes early as the teams battled back and forth. Both teams struggled from the field early before the Pioneers made a three to take the lead with 3:44 to go. The Lions battled back as they held TWU without a field goal in the final four minutes. The Lions went into the second with a 13-10 lead.
 
After an early Pioneer basket, the Lions went on a 9-0 run in the second quarter to take a double-digit lead. With seven minutes left, the Lions led 22-12. TWU answered back with a 6-0 run of their own to cut into the Lion lead. The teams battled back and forth for several minutes as the Lion lead went between eight and four for the rest of the period. The Lions went into halftime with a 33-27 lead.
 
Wright led the Lions with eight points in the first half, hitting all four of her shots. Jones, Davis and Zhibareva each added six points. The Lions shot 48 percent in the first half, including 69 percent in the second quarter. The Lions won the rebounding battle in the first half but lost the turnover battle, losing it eight times. The Lions held a 20-12 lead in the paint in the first half.
 
After the Pioneers hit an early three to start the third, the Lions once again went running. Davis converted a three-point play as the Lions built a 11 after four minutes gone in the third. The teams traded buckets the rest of the way as the Lions took a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The Lions pulled away in the final period.  Zhibareva had two early buckets as the Lions pushed their lead 15 points. The Pioneers cut the Lion lead down to 10 points before the Lion defense had multiple steals and layups to push their lead further. The Lions pushed their lead to as many as 18 in the game.