COMMERCE – Chania Wright scored career-best 23 points on the afternoon that she surpassed the 1,000 career points mark for the Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team in the 99-86 win over the Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions on Monday afternoon at the Field House.
 
Wright (DeSoto) scored 23 points on Monday afternoon on 9 for 18 shooting, surpassing her previous best of 21 points. The senior guard is the 14^th player in program history to score 1,000 points as a Lion. A&M-Commerce heads into the holiday break with a perfect 11-0 record.
 
Along with Wright's career afternoon, Laila Lawrence (Lewisville) and Dyani Robinson (Langham Creek) also had career-best performances. Lawrence totaled 21 points on 9 for 12 shooting for season-high 21 points in her freshman campaign. Many of Lawrence's points came via assists from Robinson, who had career-best 11. Her and DesiRay Kernal (Newton, Kan.) had double-doubles.
 
Lawrence, who earned her first career start, scored the first points of the game for A&M-Commerce and the Lions did not trail the rest of the way. The only time the game was tied was at the opening tip. Arkansas-Fort Smith falls to 2-7 on the season. The two teams will meet in Fort Smith on February 3 as part of the Lone Star Conference schedule.
 
A&M-Commerce made 10 of its 15 field goals in the first quarter to take a 28-18 lead. Seven players scored at least two points. Both teams shot below 35 percent from the field in the second quarter, A&M-Commerce had the 12-7 edge in scoring in the quarter and led 40-25 at halftime.
 
Robinson knocked down a transition layup at the 8:58 mark of the third quarter to take the largest lead of the game of 20 points, 47-27. The third quarter was the closest quarter between the two teams and the exact opposite of the second quarter. Both teams shot above 60 percent in the third quarter, the A&M-Commerce Lions outscored the UAFS Lions 35-33 in the quarter.
 
Arkansas-Fort Smith outscored A&M-Commerce, 28-24 in the fourth quarter, including a 9-0 run in the quarter. Ashanti Eden tallied 22 points, five rebounds, and four assists in the game. Mar'Shalia Lollie recorded a double-double off the bench. She scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
 
Kernal grabbed 10 rebounds, she has had eight or more rebounds in the last three games. Robinson scored 13 points to go along with here 13 points, while Juliana Louis (Long Beach, Calif.) recorded 10 points and six rebounds off the bench.
 
Every A&M-Commerce Lion that appeared in the game on Monday scored. Ravae Payne (Pearland) had five points and three assists, Dorian Norris (Lake Dallas) had four points, Asiyha Smith (Conway, Ark.) had two points and three rebounds, while Symmone James (McKinney – Boyd) recorded six points and four rebounds.
 
The A&M-Commerce Lions nearly reached the century mark for the third time this season, which has not been done in program history. During non-conference play, the Lions scored 90 or more points in four games.


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The Lions open conference play with two straight home games after the 11-day holiday break. A&M-Commerce hosts Midwestern State on Friday, December 31, and Texas Woman's on Sunday, January 2, 2022. Both games are set to tip-off at 2 p.m.