AUSTIN – The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team went on the road to start the regular season and Lone Star Conference play at St. Edward's University on Friday and picked up an 85-74 victory to start the season.

The game was the first of a back-to-back series against the Hilltoppers, with Saturday's game set to tipoff at 2 p.m.
 
HEAD COACH JASON BURTON AFTER THE GAME
 
His immediate thoughts after today's game: "We have some things to work on, but the good thing is that we came out, we executed the game plan, our girls played really hard and I am proud of the effort at the end of the day."
 
On DesiRay Kernal and Chania Wright: "I told the team that DesiRay almost had a triple-double, 22-points, 11 rebounds, but she had seven turnovers. I am extremely proud of her and her effort off the bench today. With her rebounding and her tenacity in the paint, she was very effective. And Chania from start to finish played her tail off tonight and that is probably a career-high in minutes and career-high in steals for her. She played a complete ballgame today."
 
On how the quick turnaround will look: "So, I look forward to this quick turnaround and getting back right away. You start watching film right away and figure out what can we do a little bit better tomorrow to find a way to win again."
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions (1-0, 1-0 LSC) were led on the stat sheet by Kernal (Newton, Kan.), who recorded her fourth career double-double, including career highs in points (22), rebounds (11), and minutes played.
- Dyani Robinson (Cypress) also managed career highs in points (19), rebounds (8) and minutes.
- Wright (DeSoto) was the third Lion to get into double-digit scoring column with 18 points, five assists, five steals, and one rebound.
- A&M-Commerce shot 43 percent from the floor, 38 percent from deep, and 77 percent from the charity stripe. Both teams were knotted at 50 rebounds each, but the Hilltoppers (0-1, 0-1 LSC) had 30 offensive boards compared to just 20 for the Lions.
- The Lions managed 19 assists on 30 made field goals, for a 63 percent assist to made field goal ratio.
- Both squads turned the ball over more than their coaches would like, 29 for A&M-Commerce and 28 for St. Edwards. The Lions added 28 points off those turnovers, thanks in part to 17 steals.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
A&M-Commerce's Wright put in the first four points of the game, but it would be a back-and-forth scoring affair as the first quarter ended with a tightly contested Lion lead, 20-19. Wright and Robinson had seven and nine early points, respectively. The Lions out-shot the home squad 62% to 33% for the quarter.

The Lions duplicated their offensive output in the second quarter, scoring 21 points once again. Wright and Robinson led the way in scoring at the half with 14 and 12-point efforts, respectively. Kernal was not far behind, scoring seven of her own. Miscues were ever prevalent as both teams were ihad double digit turnovers - 13 for A&M-Commerce and 15 for the Hilltoppers.
 
In the third quarter, the exchange of baskets continued and even intensified as the Lions outscored St. Edward's by a score of 25-22 lead by a 67-58 score headed to the final period. Kernal hit her first three-pointer of the season to provide a swing of momentum for A&M-Commerce and joining the crew of double-digit scorers on the day. The Hilltoppers managed to make a push within nine points of the lead to close the quarter.
 
In the closing period, the Lions secured the victory thanks to four steals and defensive prowess the rest of the way. A&M-Commerce netted 18 points and saw their three leading scorers build on their in-game stats to secure the win for the visiting team.