COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team stormed back from being down 17 to pull to within one against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders, but the Lions fell 69-58 on Thursday night in the Field House.
 
The Islanders held a 17-point lead with 7:45 left in the third, but the Lions went on a 21-5 run over the next six minutes to trim the deficit down to 53-52 with 1:34 left in the third on a three pointer by Jordyn Newsome (Irving – MacArthur).
 
A&M-Corpus Christi held the Lions to just six points the rest of the game, outscoring A&M-Commerce, 13-6 in the fourth quarter. The Lions shot 2 for 16 in the fourth quarter and 29.2 percent in the game.
 
The Lions have lost their second in a row and fall to 8-9 on the season and 3-4 in Southland Conference play. The Islanders have won four in a row to improve to 13-5 overall and 6-1 in conference play, while also having won all three meetings since the Lions joined the Southland.
 
The first quarter started with the Islanders leading 8-2 and they had a lead as big as 11 in the first quarter, but a pair of three pointers trimmed the lead to five. A&M-Commerce scored the final three points of the quarter to trail 20-16 at the end of the first.
 
A three pointer from Mia Deck (Frisco – Lone Star) at the 6:52 mark of the second quarter brought the Lions to within 22-21, but the Islanders responded with a 6-0 run to go back up by seven and led 38-31 at the break.
 
The Lions made just 19 field goals in the game, shooting 18 percent in the second quarter and 13 percent in the fourth.
 
The Islanders started the third quarter on a 10-0 run to jump out to a 48-31 lead, which was their largest in the game. A&M-Commerce scored 10 straight over a stretch of less than two minutes. A 7-1 run by the Lions, highlighted by Newsome's three pointer pulled the Lions within one, but A&M-Corpus Christi scored the last three points of the quarter to lead 56-52 going into the fourth.
 
The lead never got below five points in the fourth quarter, as the Islanders led by as much as 11 in the fourth quarter. The two teams combined to shoot 6 for 31 in the fourth.
 
Newsome had team-best 13 points for the Lions, which included three three-pointers. She also grabbed six rebounds, and two assists, but fouled out with just under a minute left in the game. Deck added 10 points and four rebounds, while Jordyn Beaty (Woodville) recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and career-best 12 rebounds.
 
Four of the five starters for the Islanders scored in double digits. Tymberlin Criswell led the way with 15 points, while Alecia Westbrook had 13 points and 14 rebounds for a double-double.  


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The Lions welcome Nicholls on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at LionAthletics.com/Tickets.