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Lion Women roar back to stun TWU 73-61 in OT

A&M-Commerce Lion Gabby Scott scored 16 points last night and played for 36 minutes.
lionathletics.com

Despite trailing for the vast majority of the game, A&M-Commerce women's basketball (10-7; 4-3 in LSC) came back in an overtime thriller to hand the Texas Woman's Pioneers (12-8; 5-4 in LSC) a 73-61 defeat.

Aside from a brief 13-second span after the Lions scored the first basket of the game, A&M-Commerce never led in regulation. Though they trailed by double-digits as late as the midway mark of the second half, the Pioneers were never quite able to shake the pursuing Lions. With only 1:31 remaining in regulation, a Princess Davis fast-break layup moved A&M-Commerce into a 57-57 tie, their first tie since the beginning of the game. Neither team would score again for the remainder of regulation, leading to extra time.
 
In overtime, after trading blows evenly for the first two minutes, the Lions went off for a series of unanswered scores. The Pioneers resorted to intentional-fouling, but A&M-Commerce refused to miss while TWU couldn't buy a basket, resulting in a final score that does not reflect how close the game truly was.
 
"I thought we played harder than they did in the second half. I'm really proud of the effort from our entire team," said head coach Jason Burton, "We challenged our players in practice. We talk about being the biggest front line in the conference, and tonight it was time to go out and prove it."
 
Abigail Leaupepe-Tele had a career-night with her first double-double of the season, setting a new personal high-water mark with 15 rebounds to go along with 11 points, two blocks and a steal in 22 minutes of action. The senior forward is only a week removed from setting yet another career-high, a four-steal performance in the win over Eastern New Mexico. Fellow senior La'Tisha Hearne also delivered a strong effort on the glass, as the fifth-most prolific rebounder in the LSC logged an 11-board effort.
 
"Abby was our player of the game," said Burton, "The way she got stops, the way she rebounded, the way she ran the court, the way she was out their communicating. The game ball goes to her."
 
Gabby Scott and Princess Davis each scored a team-high 16 points in the win, many of their points coming late in regulation and in overtime to actualize the comeback-effort. The blemish on Scott's night came from beyond the arc, where she was 0 for 6 from deep. Yet that was a struggle for the entire Lion lineup on the night, as A&M-Commerce as a team failed to sink any of their 13 attempts.
 
To make up for their long-range woes, the Lions performed excellently from the line, going 88.5 percent from the charity stripe on 23 of 26 shooting. Junior center Kiana Evans was one of four Lions to convert 100 percent on at least four attempts, and finished the night as the most efficient scorer from the field with 5 of 6 shooting, ending up with 14 points.
 
The game started out rough for the Lions, who scored a mere two points in the first seven minutes on a dreary 1 of 13 shooting. Texas Woman's capitalized by scoring 14 points over that span. The Lions would gradually recover, and by the half had reduced the gap to five, with TWU leading 30-25.
 
For the Pioneers, the biggest tragedy of the night was wasting a monster night from Emily Spector, who set career-highs in points, blocks and steals with a 24-point, 8-rebound, 5-block, 3 steal performance. Even more unfortunate for Spector is despite her incredible stat-line, she whiffed on a potential game-winning free throw with 1.7 seconds left in regulation. It was her lone miss from the line on her seven opportunities, and it came at the worst moment, or best moment depending on one's perspective.
 
With the loss, the Pioneers have now dropped two straight to the Lions dating back to last season, both within Kitty Magee Arena, though they still control a 40-33 all-time edge over A&M-Commerce. They'll remain at home until this Sunday, when Tarleton State come to Denton.
 
However, before TWU does anything, the Lions will get the first crack at the TexAnns. Coach Burton's squad returns to the friendly confines of the Field House this Saturday, January 31 at 4 p.m. to face visiting TSU (11-5; 4-3 in LSC), who are fresh off a 64-37 win over out-of-conference opponents McMurry. After that, the Lions will return back to the road with a trip to Lawton, Oklahoma to face the Cameron Aggies (9-7; 6-1 in LSC) on the itinerary.