COMMERCE – The No. 7 Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team could not overcome early shooting woes, falling to Cameron University 66-61 in the Field House on Tuesday afternoon.
 
The Lions fall to 10-2 on the season with the loss, while the Aggies are now 7-5.
 
A&M-Commerce hosts Texas A&M-Kingsville on back-to-back dates in a Lone Star Conference non-divisional series, with a 5 p.m. tipoff Friday and a 3 p.m. tipoff Saturday.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions shot 29.2 percent (21-of-72) from the field in the game and made 19.0 percent (4-of-21) from three-point range.
- Chania Wright (DeSoto) scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Lions. Dyani Robinson (Cypress – Langham Creek) netted 11 points.
- Juliana Louis (Long Beach, Calif.) recorded a double-double with 10 points and 16 rebounds, including nine offensive rebounds.
- The Lions held a 53-39 edge in rebounding, with 27 offensive rebounds turning into 23 second chance points.
 
HEAD COACH JASON BURTON AFTER THE GAME
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The incoming arctic blast weather pattern seemed to bring cold shooting with it to the Field House, as neither team shot well in the first quarter. A&M-Commerce went 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) and Cameron went 4-of-19 (21.1 percent). The Aggies scored the game's first five points before a nine-point A&M-Commerce rally gave the Lions a 9-5 lead on Wright's triple at the 4:05 mark. Unfortunately, that was the Lions' final field goal of a quarter which would end tied at 11-all.
 
A layup by Keekee Nowlin (Bryan) at the 8:13 mark of the second quarter was the only positive marker for the Lions in a 1-for-22 shooting slump which carried into the second quarter. Cameron's Whitney Outon scored nine points in the frame to allow the Aggies to go ahead by as many as eight points in the quarter. A Robinson layup and pair of Louis free throws in the final minute cut the halftime margin to four points with Cameron ahead 26-22.
 
The Lions made only one field goal in the early portions of the third quarter, and Cameron heated up from three-point range, pushing the lead for the visitors to as many as 16 points in the quarter. A layup by Louis, an Asiyha Smith (Conway, Ark.) free throw, and a Robinson trey at the buzzer cut that margin to 50-39 headed to the final quarter of action.
 
A&M-Commerce's defensive pressure in the fourth quarter brought the Lions back into the contest. From a 13-point deficit at the 6:13 mark, the Lions scored eight straight points in two-and-a-half minutes, cutting the margin to 57-52 with 3:45 to play on a pair of Louis free throws. Unfortunately for A&M-Commerce, the Lions went 2:24 without scoring again, allowing Cameron to go back up by 12 points at 64-52.
 
The Lions staged a comeback effort in the final minute, including five points from DesiRay Kernal (Newton, Kan.), but the earlier damage was too much to overcome.