FRISCO – The No. 10 Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team defeated Eastern New Mexico 68-59 in the Lone Star Conference Championship Semifinal on Saturday. The Lions build a large lead and survived a late run from ENMU to advance to the LSC Championship game.
 
The win brings the Lions to 28-2 on the season, tying the program record with 28 wins in a single season. The Greyhounds fall to 22-9 on the year, and are eliminated from the tournament.
 
The Lions will face the third-seed and No. 6 ranked Lubbock Christian in the LSC Championship game, which will be held on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Comerica Center in Frisco.
 
QUOTES AFTER THE GAME
- Click HERE for postgame thoughts from Head Coach Jason Burton, senior Alexis Bryant and junior Agang Tac.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The win is the 28th of the season for the Lions, tying the 2006-07 team for most wins in a single season.
- The Lions now advance to the LSC Championship game for the second time in program history, and their first in 13 years. A&M-Commerce is 1-0 in the Championship game.
- Chania Wright (DeSoto) led the team with 12 points, while Maddison Glass (Missouri City – Hightower) had 10 points and had a team high five assists.
- Agang Tac (Sachse) neared a double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Alexis Bryant (Pflugerville) also had 10 points and eight rebounds.
- Juliana Louis (Long Beach, Calif.) had a team-high 12 rebounds and seven points, while Dyani Robinson (Cypress – Langham Creek) had seven points and eight rebounds.
- The Lions missed 17 free throws in the game, going 21-of-38 from the foul line. The Lions also had 21 turnovers, while ENMU had just 11.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions had a strong inside presence early, blocking a pair of Greyhound shots. Wright hit an early three as the Lions built a quick lead. The Lions attacked the paint in the early portion of the quarter, with Bryant hitting a pair of inside jumpers. The Lions led 10-5 at the midway mark of the quarter. The Lions used a 7-0 run to jump ahead by eight points before a pair of shots from the Greyhounds cut the lead in half. The Lions scored the final three points of the period and took a 16-9 lead into the second quarter.
 
It was an even start to the quarter, as the teams traded buckets for the first four minutes of the quarter. The Lions then went on a run, pushing their lead to double figures on a 15-0 run. Tac and Wright each hit a pair of jumpers, and Kernal hit a three and two free throws as part of the rally. The Lions led by 20 points with two minutes remaining. The Greyhounds had a pair of late shots fall, as A&M-Commerce went into halftime with a 35-20 lead.
 
Bryant led the team with 10 points in the half, going 5-of-6 from the field while also pulling in five rebounds. Wright added eight points, while Tac had six points and four rebounds. The Lions shot 50 percent in the half, including 57 percent in the second quarter. The Lion defense held ENMU to just 23.7 percent shooting in the half.
 
The Lions got to the foul line on three different occasions early in the third quarter, but could only convert one of six attempts. The Greyhounds cut the Lion lead down to just 10 points before the Lions again went on a 9-0 run. Defense led to offense as the Lions came up with strong rebounds and takeaways and converted them to push their lead back to 19 points at the midway mark of the quarter. It was even the rest of the quarter, as the Lions led 53-34 after three.
 
It was a game of runs in the final quarter. The Greyhounds had a 5-0 run before the Lions hit consecutive buckets to bring the lead back up. ENMU then went on a 13-1 run, using three shots from deep to cut the Lion lead to single digits with two minutes left. The Lions continued to struggle from the foul line, allowing the Greyhounds to sneak back into the game as the Lions went without a field goal for the final 5:25 of the game. However, they hit just enough to send the team to its second-ever LSC Championship game.