SAN ANGELO – Entering the fourth quarter at the Junell Center down by five, the No. 1/4 ranked Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team outscored the Angelo State Rambelles by eight points in the final stanza to win 89-86 on Thursday night.
 
Both teams exchanged the lead for the final three minutes of the game. Juliana Louis (Long Beach, Calif.) gave the Lions an 88-86 lead with 1:24 left in the game with a hook shot. Chania Wright (DeSoto) added a free throw with 18 seconds left. The Rambelles had a look to tie the game at the buzzer, but it missed the backboard. They were held to four points in the last 3:18.
 
Angelo State entered the day in a three-way tie for first place in the Lone Star Conference with a record of 11-3. The Rambelles fall to fourth place in the standings with a record of 11-4, while the Lions are now in a tie for second place with a record of 11-3 with Texas Woman's. The Lions need a win on Saturday and losses from West Texas A&M and the Pioneers to win the regular season LSC Title and clinch the No. 1 seed in next week's LSC Tournament.

HEAD COACH JASON BURTON'S POST GAME THOUGHTS
On getting the win: What a game. That was a championship level performance from both sides. Coach Alesha Ellis has done a great job with this program, they are playing at a high level in all phases. We kept inching toward the lead and then they would go on a run. We couldn't break that barrier, but finally in the fourth quarter, we found a way to get the lead and did a good job of keeping it. We played efficient, especially our post players, Laila Lawrence and DesiRay Kernal. We needed all 17 rebounds from DesiRay, she was 1 for 5 from the line in last game, but bounced back, shooting 3 for 3 tonight. For us as a team, we had to get down and defend, down the stretch. Anybody can score for them and their mid-range game was efficient, we did a good job of making the stops. 
On Angelo State's defense: We normally force more turnovers than the other team. I was surprised by how good of a job they did of taking care of the ball. They had 23 points off turnovers, which was a big reason why they were in the game. We dominating the rebounds, 41-21, and that is why we were able to win this game. Second chance points were huge for us. 
On message to the team down the stretch: We executed down the stretch, which was different today than it was last game. We were saying the right things in the huddle. Coach Markeith Brown's message throughout the game was to play together, our bench was tremendous in playing well when their number was called. Olivia Russell's minutes in the first quarter were huge for us, with players in foul trouble. We're playing at a championship level and it is now two games back to back that we played close games and had to execute down the stretch. 
On Laila Lawrence's performance: It is good to see her confidence in such a big game today. We wanted to get her the ball down the stretch. She was a beast on the offensive end. 
On tournament seeding: We have to win both games on this road trip to leave no doubt that we are not playing on Tuesday. The two wins also move us closer to securing the No. 1 seed in the region. Everything that we want to happen, will happen if we continue winning. Our goal right now is to put ourselves in the best position to be the hosts in the tournament. 
On looking ahead to UT Permian Basin: Even though their record might now show, they play hard. We've played the last two games against teams that play man-to-man and now we play UTPB, who plays a 1-3-1 zone. We have to move the ball into the paint like we did tonight, but we have just one day to prep for it. This whole week is just dress rehearsal for us on how to win in the tournament. 
 
The Rambelles scored eight of the first 10 points in the game, shooting 67 percent to start and led 13-8. Sawyer Lloyd was a perfect 2 for 2 from the field, including a three pointer for five points in the first five minutes.
 
Wright drilled a three pointer at the end of the first quarter to trim the Rambelles deficit to 25-23 to end the first quarter. Lions made five of their last six shots in the first quarter. Dyani Robinson (Langham Creek) totaled six points in the first quarter and Laila Lawrence (Lewisville) also added six points off the bench.
 
The Lions stayed right with the Rambelles, not allowing them to build a lead bigger than two points to start the second quarter and an and-one by Dorian Norris (Lake Dallas) at the 6:12 mark of the second quarter gave the Lions a 32-31 lead.
 
After no lead changes in the first quarter, there were six lead changes and six ties in the second quarter. Both teams scored 18 points in the quarter, with the Lions shooting 8 for 13 from the field. Through the first 20 minutes, DesiRay Kernal (Newton, Kan.) had eight rebounds. The Rambelles were held to shoot 44 percent in the second quarter after shooting 65 percent in the first quarter.
 
Lawrence started the game shooting 7 for 7 and led the team with 14 points through the first three quarters. Llyod had 11 points for the Rambelles in the third quarter and led the team with 22 points, shooting 9 for 10 through the first 30 minutes. She finished the game with 27 points.
 
Scoring five straight points, Lawrence gave the Lions a 77-75 lead at the 5:25 mark of the fourth quarter, the Lions' first lead since the second quarter. She had a personal 9-0 run for the Lions to extend their lead to 80-77. She surpassed her season-best of 21 points during the stretch.
 
Lawrence scored 24 points on 10 for 14 shooting, which is a career high. She also had nine rebounds. Kernal totaled a double-double with 17 points and tied her career high with 17 rebounds. She also totaled two assists, a block, and a steal. Robinson finished the game with 13 points, three assists, two rebounds, and a steal.
 
Wright tallied 15 points and an assist. Louis had seven points, two rebounds, and an assist. Asiyha Smith (Conway, Ark.) had three points, two rebounds, and a steal. Norris scored six points, also had two rebounds and two assists. Mia Deck (Frisco – Lone Star) and Symmone James (McKinney – Boyd) added two points each off the bench.
 
UP NEXT
A&M-Commerce heads to Odessa to conclude the regular season on Saturday at 2 p.m. against UT Permian Basin.