FRISCO – The top-seeded Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team used strong defensive play to stay in the game but could not overcome cold shooting in a 57-44 loss to third-seeded Lubbock Christian University in the Lone Star Conference Championship game in Comerica Center on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Lions will enter the NCAA Division II Championship tournament with a 28-3 record. The field for the championship will be announced online at NCAA.com at 9 p.m. tonight and the Lions will host a watch party in the Club in the Rayburn Student Center.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions were led by Alexis Bryant (Pflugerville), who earned all-tournament honors with a 16-point, 15-rebound double-double.
- Chania Wright (DeSoto) scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds as the Lions' other double digit scorer.
- While the Lions had a 46-39 rebounding advantage and forced LCU into 16 turnovers while only committing 10, a cold shooting game hurt the Lions, who were making their second-ever LSC Championship Game appearance.
- The Lions were limited to 21.2 percent (14-of-66) shooting from the floor, including 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from behind the three-point line. A&M-Commerce's defense held LCU to 38.0 percent (19-of-50) shooting, but the Lady Chaps made 9-of-21 three-pointers (42.9 percent).
 
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
CLICK HERE to watch the postgame press conference
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions struggled to find the mark out of the gate, as over six minutes went by before the top seed connected on a two-point basket. By then, the Lady Chaps had their sights dialed in from long range and LCU was up 12-3 in the opening minutes. A Bryant basket started the Lions' comeback from the interior with the bench contributing on pressure defense. LCU went over three minutes without scoring before a late layup had the Lady Chaps ahead 14-9 after the first quarter.
 
A&M-Commerce got good looks on the offensive end in the early minutes of the second quarter, but shots would not fall. The Lions missed their first seven shots of the quarter and 10 of their first 11. In that time, LCU pushed the lead to 27-9. TAMUC kept its cool and was able to find success late in the quarter, making four straight shots in the last four minutes. The halftime margin was 34-20 in LCU's favor.
 
The Lions started the third quarter on fire, scoring the first eight points of the period to bring the crowd back into the contest. Bryant scored six straight points and Alexus Jones (Aledo) banked in a three-pointer at the end of the shot clock to cut the lead to 36-31. From there, the Lions went cold, missing their last six shots as LCU closed the period on a 7-0 run. The Lady Chaps led 43-31 with 10 minutes to play.
 
In the final quarter, the Lions' shooting woes continued, making comeback chances slim. Though A&M-Commerce excelled at limiting LCU scoring chances as well, the Lions made only two field goal attempts in the quarter. The score was within single digits in the final minute, but an LCU three-pointer put the final margin out of reach.