COMMERCE – The 17th-ranked Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team travels to Lawton, Okla. for a Thursday evening divisional battle against the Cameron Aggies.
 
WHO: A&M-Commerce at Cameron
WHERE: Lawton, Okla. | Aggie Gym
WHEN: 5 p.m. on Thursday, January 14
RECORDS: A&M-Commerce (4-1, 4-0) and Cameron (3-2, 3-2) meet for the first of two games this week.
RANKINGS: A&M-Commerce sits at No. 17 in the polls while the Aggies remain unranked.

TELEVISION/LIVE VIDEO: LSC Digital Network
LIVE AUDIO: Lion Sports Network -- KETR 88.9 FM, Commerce (http://www.ketr.org)
LIVE STATS: http://statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=tame
 
Going into the year…
A&M-Commerce (4-1, 4-0) is led by seventh-year head coach Jason Burton and comes off a record-setting 2019-20 season with a lions' share of firsts for the program. The defending LSC Coach of the Year and his staff led the Lions to a program-high 28-3 record along with the first 20-win Lone Star Conference season for the program. The end of this successful run is one the Lions and their fans will wonder "what could have been" after CoVID-19 brought an abrupt end to the postseason.
 
The Lions maintain a roster with a mix of new faces and experienced ones. Two returning starters are at the forefront, with a duo of double-digit scoring guards in WBCA Honorable Mention Third All-American WBCA and All-LSC Second Teamer Chania Wright, and LSC Freshman of the Year and Third Team All-Conference selection Dyani Robinson.  
 
The latest…
This season began with back-to-back weekend sweeps of St. Edward's and St. Mary's in which DesiRay Kernal put the Lone Star Conference on notice posting 16.8 points per game to that point. She elevated her game when needed, with Robinson and Juliana Louis out due to CoVID protocol, to back those performances up with a career-day, putting up 26 points against a feisty Midwestern State team on the road. But it was A&M-Commerce who hit their first snag of the year, falling in the final minute of the game. The Lions matched their 4-0 start to the season from 2019-20 that set a school record prior to the loss.
 
Notes to consider…
Moving into the date with Cameron, A&M-Commerce remains atop the LSC in scoring putting up 76.0 per outing. Kernal's hot start has catapulted her into second individually in the conference in scoring with 18.6 per game. She is also fourth in field goal percentage, hitting shots at a 52.6-percent rate. Agang Tac's season-high 10 rebounds last game raised her average high enough to be fifth in the conference in boards with 7.4 per game. Every game there has been an improvement in sharing the ball, and it shows. The Lions are third in the conference in assists per game with 15.0 on the dot.
 
On the opponent…
The Cameron Aggies (3-2, 3-2 LSC) finished the 2019-20 campaign with a 13-16 record, 12-10 in conference play. Head coach Emma Anderson took the reins in 2016 after completing a stint as the team's top assistant. From 2018-2019 Anderson doubled the team's wins in the previous season before falling to St. Mary's in the LSC tournament to close the year. She has the Aggies winning two of the last three games heading into this matchup.

Cameron is led on the floor by Maighan Hedge (Melbourne, Australia), who leads the squad in scoring (17.0), minutes (168) and is shooting 38.2 percent from beyond the arc on the young season. Katie King has started all three of their games and is the other player averaging double digits in the scoring column with 10.7 per game. Hedge is the co-leader in rebounds with Stephanie Peterson at 6.0 per game.
 
On the series history…
A&M-Commerce and Cameron are meeting for the 49th time, with the Lions sweeping last year's series and winning five straight between the two clubs. The next game will take place in a quick turnaround on Saturday in Commerce.