COMMERCE – The No. 4 Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team jumped out to a huge lead in the second quarter and never looked back in a 98-49 rout of the University of Texas at Tyler in the Field House on Saturday.
 
The win was a historic one for the blue and gold, as the Lions tied the program record for most wins in a regular season, and head coach Jason Burton claimed sole possession of the school record for most wins by a head coach with his 110^th victory.
 
The Lions move to 22-0 overall and 16-0 in the Lone Star Conference. UT Tyler falls to 3-17 overall and 1-15 in league play.
 
A&M-Commerce is on the road for a pair of games next week, starting at Midwestern State at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Wichita Falls.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Chania Wright (DeSoto) led the Lions with 20 points and six rebounds as one of four A&M-Commerce players in double digits.
- Alexis Bryant (Pflugerville) scored 15 points with three assists and drew six fouls.
- Juliana Louis (Long Beach, Calif.) had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, including four offensive boards.
- Dyani Robinson (Cypress - Langham Creek) scored 13 points off the bench. Two other Lions narrowly missed out on double-doubles as Agang Tac (Sachse) scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Mykiel Burleson (Pflugerville) scored nine points and passed out seven assists.
- The Lions shot 52.1 percent (37-of-71) from the floor in the game while limiting UT Tyler to 16-of-51 (31.4 percent shooting).
- A&M-Commerce also had an astounding plus-30 rebounding margin (51-21).

HEAD COACH JASON BURTON AFTER THE GAME


HOW IT HAPPENED
The first quarter saw both teams struggle to find the mark, though the Lions controlled the period for the vast majority. After UT Tyler had the first two made shots of the game, the Lions went on an 11-1 run, holding the Patriots without a field goal for nearly seven minutes. A&M-Commerce took a 17-9 lead into the halftime locker room.
 
That cold shooting carried into the second quarter for the Patriots, but the Lions were almost unbelievably hot in the frame. A&M-Commerce converted on 14-of-16 (87.5 percent) of its shots in the quarter, while UTT made only four shots. The Lions had runs of nine and seven points and carried a commanding 51-24 lead into the break.
 
A&M-Commerce started the second half by scoring the first six points of the period and not allowing UT Tyler to score a field goal in the first four minutes of play. Wright and KeeKee Nowlin (Bryan) made three pointers and a three-point play by Robinson made it a 42-point lead with a minute to play in the period. The Lion lead stood at 78-37 heading into the final frame.
 
The rout was sealed in the fourth quarter when the Lions went on a nine-point run capped by another Robinson three-point play. The blue and gold would lead by as many as 52 points on the way to the 49-point victory.