ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Fifteen second-chance points in the second half on 11 offensive rebounds propelled the Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball to come from behind and win 69-67 against the Ouachita Baptist Tigers on Friday evening at the Bill Vinina Arena. The Lions downed the Tigers for the first time on the road in program history.
 
The Lions outscored the Tigers 37-30 in the second half, led by DesiRay Kernal (Newton, Kan.), who had 11 of her 14 points in the second half. Juliana Louis (Long Beach, Calif.) had five offensive rebounds in the third and fourth quarter, she had nine total in the half, earning a double double with 14 points, 10 of her points came in the second half, and 10 rebounds. Kernal was one rebound shy of a double double.
 
Trailing by as much as 15 points in the first quarter, the Lions made just three field goals in the first quarter, shooting 20 percent in the quarter. The Tigers shot 9 for 18 from the field to take a 26-11 lead.
 
A&M-Commerce quickly cut Ouachita Baptist's lead to eight, by starting the second quarter on a 10-3 run. The Tigers pushed their lead back up to 11, but the Lions, behind five straight points from Chania Wright (DeSoto), ended the half on a 6-0 run. Wright had 13 points, six rebounds, and two steals in the game.
 
The Lions' second unit provided the spark in the second quarter. Asiyha Smith (Conway, Ark.) and Dorian Norris (Lake Dallas) drew four fouls each in the half. The Tigers fielded just eight players in the game on Friday night, all but two at least had two fouls in the first half, and two had three.  
 
As a team, the Lions had eight points in the paint in the second quarter and trailed 37-32 at the break, trailing the entire half.
 
Louis started the second half with a layup, Wright followed with a jumper to trim the deficit to one. Mia Deck (Frisco – Lone Star) came off the bench in the second half and scored four points in a row, to help the Lions tie at 42.
 
A&M-Commerce's first lead of the night came on two made free throws by Kernal at the 2:49 mark of the third quarter. The Tigers responded by taking a three-point lead at the end of the third, despite shooting just 3 for 12 in the quarter.
 
Kernal once again helped the Lions tie the game on an and-one opportunity. After a Louis put back layup tied the game at 54, the Tigers hit a three pointer on the other end. Kernal knocked down her free throw to tie at 57.
 
Louis had another second chance layup at the 5:43 mark of the fourth quarter, this time it gave the Lions the lead, which they did not surrender the rest of the way. Ouachita Baptist made a layup to tie it at 61, but a Dyani Robinson (Langham Creek) three pointer gave the Lions a 64-61 lead.
 
Down the stretch, with two players fouled out, the Tigers cut it to within one twice, but the Lions knocked down three of the four free throws to hang on for the win.
 
Smith had team-leading four assists. Robinson had seven points, six rebounds, and two steals. Norris added six points, including four of five from the charity stripe. Smith also shot 4 for 5 from the free throw line and had six points. A&M-Commerce outshot Ouachita Baptist, 46.7 percent to 33.3 percent in the second half.
 
UP NEXT
The Lions end their long stretch away from Commerce to start the season on Tuesday in Durant, Oklahoma. A&M-Commerce takes on Southeastern Oklahoma State at 5:30 p.m. before hosting Lion Hoopsgiving presented by Best Western Plus next weekend.