COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team heads up to the Pacific Northwest this week for a two-game road trip, beginning at the defending PAC 12 tournament champion, Washington State on Wednesday night. 
 
WHO: A&M-Commerce at Washington State
WHERE: Pullman, Wash. | Beasley Coliseum
WHEN: Wednesday, November 29 | 7 p.m. PST
RECORDS: A&M-Commerce is 3-2 on the season, while Washington State is 7-1. 
RANKINGS: Neither team is nationally ranked, though the Cougars are receiving votes in both the AP and USA Today WBCA Coaches Poll. 
  LIVE VIDEO: https://pac-12.com/live/washington-state-university
LIVE STATS: https://statb.us/v/tame/493869
GAME NOTES: TAMUC | WSU

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
• Washington State, who is the defending PAC 12 Tournament champion, is off to a 7-1 start, receiving votes inboth major polls.
• The Cougars were nationally ranked in both major polls until falling to Green Bay last Saturday.
• Washington State is seventh in the country in blocks per game with both Alex Covill and Beyonce Bea being in the top 100 for blocks per game. This is the second opponent that the Lions are facing the in the Division I era that is receiving votes.

QUICK GLANCE AT THE LIONS
• The Lions have off been for a week, but picked up a 84-75 come-from-behind win over Utah Tech at home last Monday.
• The win over the Trailblazers was the third straight win at home and first win this season over a Division I opponent. The Lions are still searching for their first road win of the season and first ever road win at a Division I non-conference opponent.
• A&M-Commerce is tops in the conference in scoring offense and top 10 in the country with 9.8 three pointers made per game. Jordyn Newsome and Mary Delgado are 2-3 in the conference in scoring.
 
BRAND NEW WATERS
• The Lions are in the second season in NCAA Division I and the Southland Conference.
• This is the first time the Lions are changing conferences in program history.
• A&M-Commerce is eligible for the NCAA Tournament in the 2026-27 season.

LIONS' RAIN THREES TO BEAT TRAILBLAZERS
• Despite trailing by double-digits in the first half, the Lions shot 14 three pointers to pick up the win.
• The win snapped a two-game losing streak and is the first win over a Division I team this season.
• Both Mary Delgado and Ahmya Boyce scored 19 in the game, with Boyce hitting six three pointers.

SLOW START DOOMS LIONS AT TECH
• Texas Tech scored the first 29 points of the game in Lubbock.
• The Lions were only outscored 23-21 in the third quarter, but it was too little too late.
• It is the first time since women's basketball went to quarters that the Lions were held without a basket in a quarter, being scoreless in the first quarter.

JUST FELL SHORT OF THE LOBOS
• Mia Deck's shot just fell short at the New Mexico in the 75-74 loss to the Lobos.
• The win for A&M-Commerce would have been the second over a Division I non-conference opponent and first on the road.
 
STARTED ON A HIGH NOTE
• The Lions' 2-0 to start the season was the fourth in the last five years and for the first time in the Division I era.
• By beating LeTourneau, the Lions have won their season opener for the fifth straight season.
• The Lions last lost in the season-opening game to start the 2018-19 season.
 
A NEW ERA
• Valerie King takes over as the Lions' coach this season, she was previously an assistant coach at New Mexico.
• This is the first season since 2013-14, that the Lions have a new coach.
• King is joined on the bench by assistant coaches: Tad Wedel, Brechelle Beachum, Trevor Moyer, and Jaedyn De La Cerda.

HOT FROM DEEP
• The Lions knocked down 14 three pointers in the win over UNT-Dallas, which is tied for the second most in program history.
• The program record for most three pointers in a season is 15 and happened during the 2006-07 season, when the Lions went to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight
 
NEWSOME SHINES IN DEBUT
• Jordyn Newsome made her mark in Lion Country with a 24-point performance in her Lion debut.
• She knocked down six three pointers as well in her first game inside the Field House.
• She is the team leader in scoring and second in the conference

DELGADO BOOSTS OFF THE BENCH
• Mary Delgado has come off the bench in every game, but is second on the team in scoring and third in the SLC.
• She has scored 19 points in two of the last three games.
 
PLENTY OF NEW FACES
• This season, the Lions bring back just seven players from last season, and welcome seven newcomers for the 14-person roster.
• Of the seven newcomers, three are true freshmen, while the rest are transfers.
• The Lion freshmen hail from Austria, Spain and Texas, while among the transfers, two are from the junior college ranks and two are from fellow NCAA Division I schools, both from the Sun Belt.
 
PLAYING THE BEST OF THE BEST
• A&M-Commerce faces four major conference opponents in the non-conference portion of the schedule.
• The Lions played at Texas Tech on Friday, are at Washington State on November 29, host Houston on December 8, and at Texas A&M on December 31.
• This season, the Lions face three teams that played in the NCAA Tournament, while playing two that played in the NIT.
 
SUCCESS IN THE POSTSEASON
• The Lions' run in the Southland Conference tournament ended in the semifinals last season, ending a run of three straight championship game appearances.
• The game against Southeastern was the fifth consecutive season the Lions were playing in the conference tournament semifinals.
• A&M-Commerce has won two postseason games for each of the last three seasons and won three the last two years. 
 
HISTORIC START TO CONFERENCE PLAY
• For the first time since 2019-20, the Lions started 6-0 in conference play, last year. 
• That season, the Lions advanced all the way to the conference tournament championship game and made the NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
FIRST DI ROAD WIN
• The win at McNeese was the first road win for the Lions away from the Field House as a Division I member, they were 0-7 in true road games and 0-9 in games away from home prior to that.
 
AMONG THE BEST IN THE SLC
• The Lions finished the regular season first in the conferenece in scoring (65.4), second in rebounding (38.7).
 
A RARE FEAT IN STARKVILLE
• Despite the lopsided loss against Mississippi State last season, the Lions had an impressive effort on the road.
• Coming into the game, the Bulldogs were allowing 50.3 points per game, which was seventh in the country. The Lions scored 53 points.
 
ENDED ON A HIGH NOTE
• The Lions ended their Division II era with four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and won a NCAA Tournament game in each of the last two seasons.
• A&M-Commerce has five postseason appearances in program history, with four coming in the last four seasons.
• The Lions were ranked as high as No. 1 in the D2SIDA rankings and No. 2 in the WBCA rankings last season.