COMMERCE – After falling behind by double digits in the first quarter, the No. 15 Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team poured on the offense to roll to a 110-81 victory over Midwestern State University in the Field House on Monday evening.
 
The win will give the Lions a final regular season and Lone Star Conference record of 11-2, while Midwestern State is now 10-5.
 
The Lions will await the announcement of the Lone Star Conference Championship field this weekend following the completion of the regular season.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions set program records for points scored against a Division II team and points scored in a Lone Star Conference game with 110 points, which is the fourth-most in program history against any opposition. The previous most points in Division II or LSC games was 107 against Midwestern State in the Mustangs' last visit to the Field House on January 4, 2020.
- This is the eighth game in which the Lions scored over 100 points.
- Dyani Robinson (Cypress – Langham Creek) led all scorers with a career-high 29 points, also scoring her 500^th career point just before the halftime buzzer. She added seven assists.
- DesiRay Kernal (Newton, Kan.) scored 21 points, including an 11-of-13 night at the free throw line, while also contributing nine rebounds.
- Chania Wright (DeSoto) scored 16 points, Juliana Louis (Long Beach, Calif.) had 15 points and eight boards, and Asiyha Smith (Conway, Ark.) scored 11 points off the bench. Agang Tac (Sachse) led all players with 10 rebounds.
- The Lions shot 45.7 percent (42-of-92) from the floor, 54.5 percent (6-of-11) from three-point range, and 76.9 percent (20-of-26) at the free throw line.
- The 92 field goal attempts is the most by an LSC team this season by a margin of 19 shots, and ranks seventh in the nation this year.
 
HEAD COACH JASON BURTON AFTER THE GAME
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
In the early stages of the first quarter, the Mustangs seemed unable to miss, while the Lions struggled shooting from the field. Midwestern State made 11-of-15 baskets in the first quarter (73.3 percent) and charged out to a 24-12 lead in the first 8:40 of action. The Lions made only 5-of-22 (22.7 percent) of their field goals in the quarter, but used free throws from Louis and Kernal and a late Robinson layup to close the frame on a six-point run. MSU led 24-18 after the period.
 
The Lions scored six straight points to get within two points early in the second quarter and capitalized on Midwestern State going nearly six minutes without a field goal. The Mustangs also committed six turnovers in that span. Robinson gave the Lions the lead with a three-point play at the 1:46 mark and the Lions never looked back. Her buzzer-beating layup for her 500^th career point gave the Lions a 44-38 halftime lead.
 
A&M-Commerce had the pedal to the metal to start the second half, stretching the game to a nearly unassailable lead. The Lions scored the first 10 points of the quarter to go ahead 54-38 with just over two minutes gone in the half. The Mustangs briefly managed to cut the lead to single digits after a six-point run late in the frame, but Wright's three-pointer and a layup by Keekee Nowlin (Bryan) had the hosts ahead 73-61 with 10 minutes remaining.
 
The Lions' offensive barrage continued into the fourth quarter, as A&M-Commerce opened the quarter on a 1-6 run, while MSU made only one of its first 11 field goal attempts to start the period. With the result out of doubt, the Lion bench fired the limited capacity crowd up. Smith's three-point play put the Lions over the century mark with 2:05 to go and Dorian Norris (Lake Dallas), Cyliest Smith (Mansfield – Legacy), Faith Bland (St. Louis, Mo.), and Jordyn Beaty (Woodville) netted baskets in the final minutes.