WICHITA FALLS – The ninth-ranked Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team fell in the final minutes to Midwestern State University 85-82 on Sunday afternoon. This game was counted as a non-conference game in the record books after being scheduled to replace a weekend series against No. 3 Lubbock Christian.
 
The loss brings the Lions to 4-1 on the season while they remain unblemished in LSC play sitting at 4-0. Midwestern State improves to 3-2 on the young season.
 
HEAD COACH JASON BURTON AFTER THE GAME
- Thoughts on the game: "I do not think we made the right decisions down the stretch. There were times where we scored a basket, got into a press and we didn't get in the right position, resulting in layups. We found ourselves not in the right defensive position and I found that to be the case throughout the game. Early on in the game, we over came that. When Agang Tac is on the floor, she makes up for so many mistakes on the floor. She knows what to do and where to be. Not having her on the floor for a stretch hurt us."

- On the play of Keekee Nowlin and DesiRay Kernal: "I thought Keekee played outstanding today. Her mentality as far as going to the basket and playing both ends of the floor, getting her teammates involved, playing defense, and it hurt us when she started cramping up a little bit. When we did not have her on the floor, we were not as good defensively. Offensively, I think it clicked with her that she could find her niche and where to score. She really took attacking to heart today. DesiRay Kernal is an offensive threat. She has been that since she got here. It has always been with her – can she guard the same way she can score? When she does that she is the best player in the country."
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- A&M-Commerce was led by DesiRay Kernal (Newton, Kan.) who managed a career-high for her second time this season with 26 points. She went 8-for-14, was perfect from long range (1-for-1) and efficient from the charity stripe (9-of-12). She was second on the team with seven rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
- Keekee Nowlin (Bryan), Chania Wright (DeSoto), and Ravae Payne (Pearland), all scored in double digits for the Lions with 15, 12 and 12 respectively.  
- MSU outshot the Lions by the end, 46%-39%, despite being neck and neck heading into the final few minutes of play.  
- The road team was able to use the line to their advantage, shooting 29-of-34 which is good for 85.3%.
- The Lions forced the Mustangs into 19 turnovers and converted those into 23 points.
- The home squad out-rebounded A&M-Commerce 45-33, including 13-9 on the offensive end of the floor.
- On her birthday, Agang Tac (Garland) led the Lions in rebounds with 10, a season high for the senior.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions started off hot from the floor as Kernal hit two free throws and her first attempt of the game in the first two minutes of action. The Lions began the quarter with a 7-0 run, then the Mustangs responded to go on an 13-4 run to follow to flip the lead. Nowlin's tough effort led the Lions with eight points in the opening quarter.
 
After holding a 21-15 lead after one quarter, the Lions took extended the lead to 11 points after a three-pointer from Wright followed by a jumper from Payne. Nowlin would continue to light up the scoreboard to fuel a 6-0 run in under two minutes while forcing Midwestern State into a scoring drought of over a stretch of nearly three minutes. It was back and forth the rest of the half and was wrapped up with a banked-in three point shot by Payne at the buzzer to make it 47-37 at the end of the half.
 
In the first half, Nowlin, Kernal, and Payne led the team in scoring with 12, 10 and 10 respectively. The Lions were efficient from long range (4-of-7) while shooting 42% from the floor (13-of-31) and were rewarded for their aggression on offense, going to the line 19 times and making 17 of those.
 
After the half, the hot shooting continued while A&M-Commerce and MSU went back and forth. Both squads had to grind it out on the offensive end to put points on the board and keep pace with one another. The Mustangs cut the lead to as little as six, forcing  four Lion turnovers in 2:23 minutes. Kernal stepped up in a major way, dominating the scoring for the road team and reaching a new career-high in scoring in just the third quarter. After three periods, the Lions led 71-59.
 
Heading into the final 10 minutes of action, the Lion lead slowly dwindled through the quarter. The Mustangs kept the A&M-Commerce offense quiet in the last five-plus minutes of play to take the lead in the last minute. Kernal fouled out after her successful career-day to send MSU to the line for their final push, finishing off the Mustang victory.