COMMERCE – The seventeenth-ranked Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team opens a three-game homestand in midweek action on Tuesday evening with a Lone Star Conference battle against the Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions.
 
WHO: Arkansas-Fort Smith at A&M-Commerce
WHERE: Commerce, Texas | The Field House
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 19
RECORDS: A&M-Commerce (5-1, 5-0) and UAFS (2-4, 2-4) both come off wins for this head-to-head matchup
RANKINGS: A&M-Commerce sits at No. 17 in the polls while UAFS 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
TICKETS: PASS LIST ONLY
 
Going into the year… 
A&M-Commerce (5-1, 5-0) 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 (Desoto), and LSC Freshman of the Year and Third Team All-Conference selection Juliana Louis (Long Beach, Calif.).  
 
The latest… 
The season began with back-to-back weekend sweeps of St. Edward's and St. Mary's, followed by a nail-biting loss to Midwestern State on the road before getting back into the win column with an 89-71 victory at Cameron in Lawton, Okla. The Lion women's basketball team already has two players tabbed as offensive and defensive player of the week, Robinson and Louis respectively, and has the second leading scorer in the LSC in the form of DesiRay Kernal who averages 18.2 points per game. Robinson leads the team with 21.7 points per game but has only played in three games so far this season. The Lions hold the top spot in the North Division of the LSC standings.
 
Notes to consider… 
This contest should feature a lot of scoring as A&M-Commerce leads the conference averaging 78.2 points per game while UAFS is also in the top half of the same category with 67.2 in the young season. TAMUC has four players averaging double-figures day-in and day out through six games with Robinson leading the way. Kernal ranks second in the LSC among those who qualify with her 18.2, while Wright puts up 10.5 and Louis adds 10.3 of her own. Louis and Agang Tac are the leading rebounders for TAMUC, bringing down 7.3 and 7.0 respectively.
 
When A&M-Commerce wins they do so handedly, ranking second in the conference in scoring margin at 13.7 points per game. Judging by the same statistic, UAFS is consistently in close games, just on the negative side of the scoreboard by .5 points through six contests. Both squads are suffocating on defense around the perimeter, with UAFS limiting opponents to 28.8 percent from beyond the arc while the Lions from A&M-Commerce hold their foes to 27.7.

Both squads have shown the ability to take advantage of opportunities at the free throw line, sitting in the top three in the LSC in that category. UAFS shoots 79.5-percent, good enough for the top spot, and TAMUC ranks third hitting their free throws at a 76.7 percent rate. Both squads have attempted 146 shots to this point. Finally, a key to the game will be who takes better care of the ball. UAFS ranks third in turnover margin with 5.0, forcing 130 opponent turnovers while A&M-Commerce is fourth, owning a margin of 4.17 and forcing 141 opponent turnovers.
 
On the opponent…
The Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions (2-4, 2-4) finished last year with a 14-15 mark, 11-11 record in the LSC. Head coach Tari Cummings is in her third season at the helm of the UAFS program and is the first coach in program history to be a former player. Last year, the visiting Lions finished the regular season with wins over UT Tyler and TAMUC, an 85-84 thriller, before being eliminated by St. Edward's in the LSC Tournament on March 3, 2020.
 
UAFS has a trio of Lions leading them in scoring, including Hannah Boyett – their leading scorer averaging 14.2 per game. Mar'Shalla Lollie is close behind with 13.0 and Ashanti Eden wraps up the scoring trio at 10.5 points per game. Boyett's scoring comes as a scoring threat beyond the arc (13 three pointers) and efficiency at the charity stripe (24-of-27 for 88.9-percent) while Lollie is the inside threat, hitting her shots at a 44.1-percent clip. Lollie also leads the team in rebounding with 8.8 per game.
 
On the series history…
A&M-Commerce and Arkansas-Fort Smith meet for only the third time in series history, with all two previous games coming last season. Each team won on their home court, one being a blow out in favor of TAMUC while the other was a one-point senior night victory for UAFS. This matchup was moved from its originally scheduled date of Jan. 16.