COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team has advanced to the NCAA South Central Regional Semifinal for the second year in a row. The Lions face Lubbock Christian, winners of the last two NCAA Division II Championships, on Saturday night in Canyon.   
 
WHO: A&M-Commerce vs. Lubbock Christian
WHERE: Canyon | First United Bank Center
WHEN: Saturday, March 12, 5 p.m.
RECORDS: A&M-Commerce is 27-4 overall and the Lady Chaps are 27-6.
RANKINGS: The Lions are ranked No. 7 in the D2SIDA rankings and No. 13 in the WBCA rankings. The Lady Chaps are No. 19 in the WBCA rankings and No. 9 in the D2SIDA rankings.
 
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TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: https://gobuffsgo.com/sports/2022/3/7/2022-ncaa-division-ii-womens-basketball-south-central-regional-championship.aspx
GAME NOTES: TAMUC | LCU
 
SCOUTING THE LADY CHAPS
• The Lady Chaps, who have won the last two NCAA National Championships, defeated Colorado State Pueblo on Friday to advance to the South Central Regional Semifinal for the fourth straight season. The Lady Chaps have advanced to the Elite Eight in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments.
• Lubbock Christian has scoring margin of 13.7 points per game over opponents, with Allie Schulte and Ashton Duncan, both scoring in double digits.
• In Friday's game, Laynee Burr added 17 and Ashton Duncan scored 15.
 
QUICK GLANCE AT THE LIONS
• A&M-Commerce was down by as much as seven on Friday, but came back and won by six to advance to the South Central Regional Semifinals for the second straight year. The Lions are a win away from tying the most wins in a single season in program history.
• The Lions were led by 25 points from Chania Wright against the Colorado School of Mines. A&M-Commerce outshot Mines, 58 percent to 36 percent.
• This is the third postseason that the Lions and the Lady Chaps are meeting in. The previous two meetings came in the LSC Championship game.
 
ABOUT THE SERIES
• The Lions and the Lady Chaps have met seven times, two of the last three meetings have been for the all the marbles. Saturday is the third straight postseason that the two teams are facing each other in.
• Earlier this season, the Lions secured a 66-62 win over the Lady Chaps in Commerce with Dorian Norris delivering a last second block.
• In 2020-21, the Lady Chaps won 78-57 in the LSC Championship game at home and also won 57-44 in Frisco in 2019-20. The Lions' other win since LCU joined the LSC came at home on January 30, 2020, a 59-54 win.
• The two teams have played a neutral site game, once prior and it was the 2019-20 LSC Tournament Championship game in Frisco, which was won by the Lady Chaps.
 
ENDING ON A HIGH NOTE
• The Lions are picked second in the preseason LSC poll.
 
REACHING NEW HEIGHTS
• The Lions have been ranked No. 1 in the D2SIDA Poll this week, 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.
 
PLAYING DEEEP IN MARCH
• The Lions are making their fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, fifth overall.
• The Lions won their first tournament game since 2007 last season.
 
APPROACHING HISTORY
• The Lions enter today's game with a record of 27-4, which are second-most wins in program history.
• A&M-Commerce won 28 games each in 2006-07 and 2019-20. 
 
SURVIVE AND ADVANCE
• The Lions were down by as much as seven against Mines, but a run in the fourth quarter helped the Lions win a NCAA Tournament game for the second season in a row.
 
WE MEET ONCE AGAIN
• This is the third straight postseason that the Lions and the Lady Chaps have faced off.
• Since the Lady Chaps joined the conference, the Lions are 2-0 in the regular season and the Lady Chaps are 2-0 in the postseason.
 
SOUTH CENTRAL REGION MVP
• Dyani Robinson was named the region's Most Outstanding Player on Thursday, becoming the first player to do so in program history.
• She is also the seventh first team all-region honoree in program history.
 
BURTON GETS WIN NO. 150
• Coach Jason Burton, who is the Lions' all-time wins leaders, secured his 150th career win on 2/12/22 at UT Tyler.
 
ALL-LSC RECOGNITION
• Dyani Robinson is named LSC Player of the Year, she is among four all-LSC honors.
• Laila Lawrence earns Sixth Woman of the Year award, while also being named to the All Freshman team and All-LSC Third Team
• DesiRay Kernal is named to the second team and Chania Wright named to the third team.
 
FOUR-TIME ALL-LSC
• Chania Wright is just the second player in conference history to earn all-LSC honors four times, joining Meshell Graham from 1984-88.
 
LSC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
• Dyani Robinson is the third LSC Player of the Year in program history, joining Britney Jordan and Kanani Marshall.
Chased 20 wins
• A win on 2/12/22 against UT Tyler gave the Lions 20 wins for the fifth time in program history.
• The previous 20 win seasons came in 2006-07, 2016-17, 2018-19, 2019-20.
 
WRIGHT NAMED LSC OFF. POTW
• Chania Wright was named LSC Offensive POTW on 2/14/22 for the second time in her career.
• She averaged 20 points in two wins.
 
ROBINSON NAMED LSC OFF. POTW
• Dyani Robinson was named LSC Offensive Player of the Week on 1/17 for the second time this season.
• She has been earned the award two times this season and five times in her career.
 
ROBINSON AND WRIGHT REACH 1K MARK
• Dyani Robinson reached the 1,000 career points mark on Saturday, she needed 11 points against the Falcons.
• 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 (first), rebounding (3rd), rebound margin (first), offensive rebounding (ninth), and scoring offense (10th).
 
REACHING THE CENTURY MARK
• A&M-Commerce scored 100 points against Midwestern State on 1/23/22, 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