COMMERCE – The No. 7/10 ranked Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team has won three games in a row coming into Saturday. The Lions close out a three-game home stand against Texas A&M International on Saturday afternoon in the first meeting between the two teams in the Field House since 2013.
 
WHO: Texas A&M International at A&M-Commerce
WHERE: Commerce | Field House
WHEN: Saturday, January 29, 2 p.m.
RECORDS: A&M-Commerce is 16-2 overall and 5-2 in Lone Star Conference play, the Dustdevils are 12-5 overall and 3-3 in conference play.
RANKINGS: The Lions are ranked No. 7 in the D2SIDA poll and No. 10 in the WBCA poll.
 
LIVE VIDEO: https://lonestarconferencenetwork.com/tamuc/ 
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TICKETS: https://lionathletics.com/tickets
GAME NOTES: TAMUC
 
SCOUTING THE DUSTDEVILS
• The Dustdevils have won two of their last three and are 12-5 on the season. A&M International is 3-3 in Lone Star Conference play. The Dustdevils have wins over Division I Florida A&M and Saint Martin's thus far this season.
• The Dustdevils are seventh in the country in assists per game and 22nd in steals per game. They have made the fourth-most free throws in the country thus far this season.
• Evelyn Quiroz is 47th in the country with 4.4 assists per game, Raiana Brown is shooting 58.5 percent from the season, which is 20th in the country.
 
QUICK GLANCE AT THE LIONS
• A&M-Commerce has won three in a row to move to 5-2 in LSC play. On Thursday night, all but one team ahead of the Lions in the standings suffered a loss. The Lions are 16-2 overall.
• The Lions trailed for just 22 seconds in the win over Texas A&M-Kingsville on Thursday night and are second in the country in free throws made, ninth in offensive rebounds, eighth in rebounding margin, eighth in rebounding, and eighth in scoring offense. 
• The Lions are ranked No. 7 in the D2SIDA rankings and No. 10 in the WBCA rankings, they have been in the top-10 in the coaches poll throughout the season.
 
ABOUT THE SERIES
• The Dustdevils are making their first trip to the Field House since 2013. The previous two meetings between the two teams, including the lone Lone Star Conference matchup came in Laredo. The Dustdevils hold a 3-2 edge in five games.
• The two schools first faced off in 2009. The Lions lost the only meeting between the two teams in Commerce, they won the last meeting between the two teams in 2020 in Laredo. The other win in the series for the Lions came in Kingsville in 2009.
• The Lions won 68-39 against the Dustdevils in 2020, the only conference meeting between the two teams. Saturday marks the second and final Lone Star Conference game between the two teams.
 
ENDING ON A HIGH NOTE
• The Lions are picked second in the preseason LSC poll.
 
REACHING NEW HEIGHTS
• The Lions have been ranked as high as No. 2 in the D2SIDA Poll, which is the program's best ever rankings in the poll.
• They have also been ranked No. 2 in the WBCA poll, which is best in program history.
 
UNDEFEATED NO MORE!
• The Lions handed Texas A&M-Kingsville its first loss in conference play on Thursday night.
• The Lions led for over 39 minutes and picked up their third win in a row.
 
LIONS HAND LCU SECOND STRAIGHT LOSS IN COMMERCE
• A&M-Commerce held off Lubbock Christian on Thursday, to beat the No. 2/4 Lady Chaps.
• The Lions outscored the Lady Chaps by 12 in the second half.
• Dorian Norris blocked LCU's game-tying attempt with less than a minute.
 
ROBINSON NAMED LSC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Dyani Robinson was named LSC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday for the second time this season.
• She has been earned the award two times this season and five times in her career.
 
RECORDS FALL AGAINST THE MUSTANGS
• The Lions won 81-35 over the Mustangs on December 16, breaking many records in the second half.
• The Mustangs' one point scored in the fourth quarter is the fewest allowed by the Lions in the four-quarter era.
• The seven points allowed in second half are fewest under coach Jason Burton.
• Midwestern State was held without a field goal made in a quarter for the first time in program history
• The 46 points is the biggest win by either team in the 50-game series in MSU.
 
WRIGHT REACHES 1K MARK
• Chania Wright scored season-best 23 points against UAFS (12/20/21) to become the 14th plauer in program history to score 1,000 points.
 
STARTING OUT STRONG
• A&M-Commerce's 11-0 start to the season was the second time in three seasons that the Lions started 11-0 or better.
 
AMONG NATION'S BEST
• The Lions are in top-10 in free throws made, rebounding, rebound margin, scoring offense, and offensive rebounding.
• The Lions are 16th in scoring margin.
 
REACHING THE CENTURY MARK
• A&M-Commerce scored 100 points against Midwestern State on Sunday, the third time they reached the 100-point mark.
• The Lions had never scored 100 points in a game three times in a single season before this year.
• Earlier this season, the Lions scored 100 points or more against Arkansas-Monticello and SAGU.
• Entering the season, they had only scored 100 points or more eight times.
 
EVERYONE SCORES AGAINST THE BLOSSOMS
• All 14 Lions that dressed in the game against Arkansas-Monticello, scored at least two points in the win.
 
BEEN A WHILE
• Lion Hoopsgiving was the first home games of the season and fifth overall of the season, which is the longest stretch away from the Field House to start the season since 2010-11, A&M-Commerce's first home game was the seventh game of the season.
 
FIRST WIN IN ARKADELPHIA
• The Lions won their first game at Ouachita Baptist last week, their first win on the road against the Tigers in program history. The Lions were 0-4 entering this season.
 
40 UNDER 40
• Coach Jason Burton has been named to Dave Campbell's Texas Basketball's 40 Under 40 list this preseason. The all-time wins leader in his eighth year the helm of the Lion Women's basketball program.
 
BATTLE-TESTED PRESEASON
• Prior to the start of the regular season, the Lions took on three Division I teams in exhibition games at Baylor, SMU, and Houston.
 
TOUGH TEST IN THE ROCKIES
• A&M-Commerce began the season in Colorado against two RMAC teams, including Colorado State-Pueblo, who has a win over No. 1 Lubbock Christian.
 
MAKING DANCING A HABIT
• A&M-Commerce has advanced to the postseason three years in a row. 
 
RARIFIED AIR
• TAMUC goes into the 2021-22 season with three players minted as WBCA All-Americans in Chania Wright, DesiRay Kernal, and Dyani Robinson.
 
RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN
• This season is the first full season since the Lions managed to set records for wins in a season (28), regular season wins (26), conference victories (20), consecutive wins (25), scoring margin (+18.4), lowest scoring defense (56.8) and highest national ranking (3rd) in 2019-20
 
LSC RECOGNITION
• Jason Burton was named the LSC Coach of the Year after guiding the Lions to the No. 1 seed in the LSC and a program-record 26 regular season wins and 20 conference wins.
 
During the 2019-20 season, he became the All-time leader in wins in program history. He is the 4th coach in program history to earn Coach of the Year honors.
 
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-COMMERCE ACCEPTS INVITATION TO SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE
• The Southland Conference, following the unanimous approval of its presidential Board of Directors, has extended an invitation of membership to Texas A&M University-Commerce, the league and institution announced Tuesday morning.  The university, a longstanding NCAA Division II power located an hour east of Dallas, will officially join the Southland on July 1, 2022, and begin a four-year transition into Division I at the same time.
• Touting a "Best in Class" mission, mentality, and experience, Lions' athletics features sponsorship of 14 varsity sports, including men's sports of football, basketball, golf, cross country, and indoor and outdoor track and field.  Women's sports include basketball, golf, soccer, softball, volleyball, cross country, and indoor and outdoor track and field.
The Lions have seen remarkable success in recent years, including winning the 2017 NCAA Division II Football National Championship, highlighting five consecutive postseason football berths since 2015.  Overall, 53 A&M-Commerce athletic teams have earned NCAA postseason bids since 2015, including a record 11 teams in 2018-19.  Other performance highlights include individual NCAA track and field national championships, an NCAA softball regional championship, and multiple recent NCAA berths in volleyball, and men's and women's basketball.
• In addition to its 2017 NCAA title, the Lions' football program also won the 1972 NAIA national championship.  Other national championships have included men's basketball (NAIA 1954-55), men's golf (NAIA 1965) and men's tennis (NAIA 1972 and 1978).  Prominent student-athletes at A&M-Commerce have included NFL stars Harvey Martin, Wade Wilson and Dwight White, and noted U.S. Olympic medalist John Carlos.
• Founded in 1889, Texas A&M-Commerce serves rural and urban Northeast Texas with distinction, consistently delivering on a promise that founder Professor William Leonidas Mayo made more than a century ago: "No industrious, ambitious youth shall be denied an education if I can prevent it."  To this day, the institution remains committed to its core mission: "Educate. Discover. Achieve."
• Formerly known as East Texas State University, the 2,100-acre Commerce campus provides many opportunities for students to learn and grow. The university offers more than 135 degree programs at the bachelor's, masters and doctoral levels. A vibrant student life experience includes 14 competitive NCAA athletic teams, a thriving Greek system and more than 120 student organizations. Programs are delivered on site at the Commerce campus as well as in Dallas, Frisco, McKinney, Mesquite and Corsicana. A robust online academic menu of classes is also a point of distinction, and U.S. News & World Report has ranked several programs at Texas A&M University-Commerce among the best in the nation for 2021.
• A member of The Texas A&M University System since 1996, the institution provides quality education to an inclusive community of diverse learners as one of the most affordable universities in East Texas.  Students work with world-class professors who dedicate themselves to excellence in teaching and research. The university maintains strong relationships with local industries to create relevant academic programs and valuable internship and networking opportunities that prepare career ready graduates.
• Serving nearly 12,000 students, Texas A&M-Commerce is a leader in competency-based education, and is the nation's first institution to offer an accredited competency-based bachelor's degree in criminal justice and organizational leadership. The agriculture program is also a national stand-out, featuring one of the only programs where students grow their own experimental crops on the university's 1,500-acre farm. In addition, A&M-Commerce upholds a 130-year legacy as an exceptional teachers' college, graduating more than 400 certified educators in 2019. In 2020, the university opened the 113,470-square-foot Nursing and Health Sciences Building, featuring a state-of-the-art simulation hospital.
 
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE MEMBERS ON JULY 1, 2022 – AS OF NOVEMBER 18, 2021

Institution	Offers Women's Basketball?
A&M-COMMERCE	YES
Houston Baptist	Yes
McNeese State	Yes
New Orleans	Yes
Nicholls State	Yes
Northwestern State	Yes
Southeastern Louisiana	Yes
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Yes