LAWTON, Okla. – The No. 3 Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team fought off a cold start to earn an 83-78 win over Cameron University in Aggie Gym on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Lions are now 24-0 overall and 18-0 in the Lone Star Conference and win the outright divisional championship with an 8-0 record with two divisional games remaining. Cameron is now 11-13 overall and 10-8 in conference play.
 
A&M-Commerce returns home next week for the final two regular season home games. The Play4Kay game is next up with Eastern New Mexico visiting the Field House for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff on Thursday, February 20.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions shot 36.5 percent (23-of-63) from the field and made the fourth-most free throws in a game in program history with 33 conversions from the charity stripe.
- DesiRay Kernal (Newton, Kan.) led the Lions in scoring with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double off the bench. She went 12-of-12 at the free throw line for the most made free throws without a miss in the LSC this season.
- Alexus Jones (Lewisville - Aledo) scored 12 points and Maddison Glass (Missouri City – Hightower) and Agang Tac (Sachse) each netted 10 points.
- Another pair of Lions were just shy of their own double-doubles as Juliana Louis (Long Beach, Calif.) and Alexis Bryant (Pflugerville) scored nine and eight points respectively, while each grabbing 10 rebounds.
- The Lions held an outstanding 57-38 rebounding advantage.
 
HEAD COACH JASON BURTON AFTER THE GAME
CLICK HERE for coach Burton's postgame comments.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lion shooting was off target in the first quarter, allowing the home side to take an early lead. The Lions scored the game's first five points on a Jones layup and a Glass three-pointer before the Aggies went on a 14-2 run over five minutes. The Lions went over four minutes between field goals before Tac snapped the skid with a jumper in the paint at the 2:49 mark. After Cameron's run, the Aggies only hit one shot in the final 3:51 of the quarter, and the period ended in a 16-all tie.
 
Cameron opened the second quarter on a 6-0 surge, which was quickly erased by A&M-Commerce on baskets by Chania Wright (DeSoto), Bryant, and Dyani Robinson (Cypress – Langham Creek). The Aggies led 26-24 at the midway point of the quarter, but the Lions closed out the half on a 15-7 run. The Lions scored on baskets from Tac, Jones, and Kernal in the rally, but free throw success was key, as TAMUC canned 11 of its 12 shots from the charity stripe in the second quarter. The Lions held a 39-33 lead at the halftime break, with 16 points coming from the free throw line in the first 20 minutes.
 
The opening of the third quarter was key for the blue and gold, as A&M-Commerce started on an 8-1 run. A trey by Wright and a layup by Bryant put the Lion lead at 47-34 with 8:30 left in the third. The rest of the third quarter was fairly evenly played, as TAMUC was able to extend the lead to 16 points and took a 14-point advantage into the final period. The 25 points scored in the quarter was the most of the day by A&M-Commerce, and the Lions went a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line in the quarter.
 
Glass made a three-pointer on the opening possession of the fourth quarter to give the Lions their largest lead of the game at 67-50. Cameron fought back into the game, as the hosts' next three makes were from beyond the arc, followed by an eight-point rally to make it a 75-69 Lion advantage with 2:55 to play. Bryant stemmed that tide with a layup and the Lions went 6-of-8 at the free throw line in the final two minutes to fend off the Aggies and claim the divisional crown.