COMMERCE – After a break of 18 days and achieving its best ranking in program history, the No. 2 Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team returns to the court at the First United Bank Center on Thursday evening against the West Texas A&M Lady Buffs.
 
WHO: A&M-Commerce at West Texas A&M
WHERE: Canyon | First United Bank Center
WHEN: Thursday, January 6, 5:30 p.m.
RECORDS: The A&M-Commerce Lions are 11-0 overall, the Lady Buffs are 9-7.      
RANKINGS: A&M-Commerce is ranked No. 2 in the D2SIDA poll and the WBCA poll, its best ranking in both polls. The Lady Buffs are unranked in both rankings.
 
LIVE VIDEO: https://lonestarconferencenetwork.com/tamuc/ 
LISTEN: KETR 88.9 FM (https://ketr.org)  
LIVE STATS: http://statb.us/v/tame/377421
GAME NOTES: TAMUC
 
SCOUTING THE UAFS LIONS
• West Texas A&M is 9-7 on the season, but three losses have come to teams in the top-five. Lady Buffs started the first weekend of conference play with two road wins.
• The Lady Buffs have the second-most blocked shots (69) in the country, averaging 4.3 blocks per game. They are also in the top-10 in the country in free throws and three pointers made.
• Under first-year coach Josh Prock, the Lady Buffs are 5-3 at the First United Bank Center. Two of three losses at home have come to top-six teams.
 
QUICK GLANCE AT THE LIONS
• A&M-Commerce returns to action after a 17-day hiatus due to the holiday break and COVID-19 protocols. The Lions ended the first semester with a 11-0 record and open up LSC play on Thursday. They are one of seven remaining undefeated teams.
• The Lions are fourth in the country in rebounding, ninth in scoring offense, and sixth in free throws made.
• The Lions are ranked No. 2 in the D2SIDA rankings and No. 2 in the WBCA polls, their best ranking in both polls.
 
ABOUT THE SERIES
• The Lady Buffs have had the upperhand in the all-time head to head against the Lions, having won 52 of the 60 meetings.
• A&M-Commerce won the last meeting between the two teams last season in the LSC Tournament Semifinal, 60-54, its first win over West Texas A&M in seven meetings.
• Three of eight wins for the Lions and one of three on the road has come under Jason Burton.
• In their final season in the LSC, the Lions look to improve their 6-39 record against the Lady Buffs in LSC games.
 
ENDING ON A HIGH NOTE
• The Lions are picked second in the preseason LSC poll.
 
REACHING NEW HEIGHTS
• The Lions are ranked No. 2 in this week's D2SIDA Poll, which is the program's ranking best ever in the poll.
• They are also No. 3 in the WBCA poll, which is also tied for best in program history.
 
RECORD-SETTING START
• The two Lion basketball teams have combined for a record of 21-1 to start the season, there are just three schools with one or fewer combined losses in all three levels of NCAA.
• The 20-1 start is also the best start in program history, shattering the previous best was 9-1 in 2016-17.
Best Combined Starts in 2021-22

Arizona (NCAA DI)	22-1
A&M-Commerce (NCAA DII)	21-1
NYU (NCAA DIII)	17-1

 
RECORDS FALL AGAINST THE MUSTANGS
• The Lions won 81-35 over the Mustangs on Thursday, 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 is the second time in three seasons that the Lions have started 11-0 or better.
 
AMONG NATION'S BEST
• The Lions are in top-10 in free throws made, rebound margin, rebounding, and scoring offense.
• A&M-Commerce has made 164 free throws, which is third, its rebound margin of 12.2 is sixth, average of 46.3 rebounds is eighth, and scoring average of 81.8 is ninth. 
 
REACHING THE CENTURY MARK
• A&M-Commerce scored 100 points against the SAGU Lions, second time in three games.
• This is the first time since 2015-16 that the Lions have reached the century mark in two games in a season.
• The Lions have never scored 100 points or more in three games or more in program history.
• 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