COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team continues its home stand on Friday against UNT-Dallas. 
 
WHO: UNT-Dallas at A&M-Commerce
WHERE: Commerce | Field House
WHEN: Friday, November 10 | 5 p.m.
RECORDS: A&M-Commerce is 1-0 on the season, this game is an exhibition for UNT-Dallas.
RANKINGS: Neither team is nationally ranked.
 
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ | https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/eventCalendarId/401594906?gameId=401594906
LIVE STATS: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=493096
GAME NOTES: TAMUC

SOCIAL AT CORK & BREW
• Attend Friday's game against UNT-Dallas and head to Cork & Brew after the game to watch the Lion men face Kentucky. All attendees can receive 25 percent off all drinks if they show a ticket of the game against UNT-Dallas or a Lion Card.

SCOUTING THE TRAILBLAZERS
• A&M-Commerce and UNT-Dallas meet in the opening week of the season for the second straight year. The Lions won 96-51 last season. Friday is an exhibition contest for the Trailblazers.
• The Trailblazers went 11-13 last season and have already played Tarleton and North Texas in exhibition games so far this year. UNT-Dallas fell 94-53 to Tarleton, which was an exhibition for both teams and was downed 117-42 by North Texas in the season opener for the Mean Green on Monday.
 
QUICK GLANCE AT THE LIONS
• The Lions started the Valerie King era in glorious fashion on Monday with a home win over LeTourneau. The Lions have won their season opener for the fifth straight season.
• Jordyn Newsome made her mark in her Lion debut with 24 points on Monday against the YellowJackets. The Lions shot over 52 percent in the game.
• After the game in the Field House on Friday against the Trailblazers, the Lions are on the road for their next two games. A&M-Commerce has just one more home game left in November.
 
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.
 
STARTING ON A HIGH NOTE
• 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 win on Friday gives A&M-Commerce a 2-0 start for the first time in the Division I era.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 are at Texas Tech on November 17, 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.