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Lions Fall to Tarleton State in LSC Championship Quarterfinals, 55-49

Khala Riley led the Lions with 12 points in their loss to Tarleton State in the first round of the LSC Tournament
Lion Athletics

ALLEN– The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team lost a tightly contested battle to Tarleton State 55-49 on Friday in the first round of the Lone Star Conference postseason tournament. The Lions held the lead in the fourth quarter but struggled from the field throughout the game.

 

The loss brings A&M-Commerce to 20-9 on the season and eliminates them from tournament play. The TexAnns jump to 14-13 and advance to the second round of the LSC tournament and will face Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday.

 

The Lions now look toward the NCAA Tournament field, which will be released Sunday night. The Lions were ranked eighth in the South Central Region on March 1. The top eight teams in the region will advance to the first round of the NCAA tournament, played at the site of the No. 1 seed in the region. The tournament begins on March 10 at a site yet to be determined.

 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

- There were 31 total turnovers in the game, including 12 in the first quarter.

- The Lions struggled from the field, shooting 35 percent overall. TSU shot 36 percent.

- Khala Riley led the Lions with 12 points. She also had two assists. Brianna Wise had 10 points, three rebounds and four assists.

- Artaejah Gay had eight points and six rebounds. Krystal Pickron also had eight points, including two critical threes to keep the Lions in the game.

- Recently named LSC Freshman of the Year Jenna Price had 13 rebounds.

- TSU outrebounded the Lions 39-32. TSU had 13 offensive rebounds and turned them into 13 second-chance points.

- There were six ties and five lead changes in the game. The Lions led for 23:35 while TSU led for 10:50.

- Mackenzie Hailey had 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead the TexAnns. Travanti Downes and Bailey Wipff had 10 points each and Ikpeaku Iwobi added nine points for TSU.

 

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Lions had four turnovers on their first six possession but held TSU to just one make in five tries in the first four minutes and four turnovers of their own. A&M-Commerce held a 9-2 lead midway through the first quarter.

 

The Lion defense was strong early on, as TSU missed six consecutive shots and was held scoreless for more than four minutes early in the quarter. TSU shot just 2-of-14 in the first quarter. Gay had back-to-back buckets and a three from Riley sent the Lions into the second quarter up 16-5.

 

The swarming defense continued for the Lions to begin the second quarter. Wise had a blocked shot and then Courtney Fields had a steal early on. The TexAnns started to go on a run with eight minutes to go in the second quarter. They held the Lions without points for more than five minutes and scored 10 points of their own to cut into the Lion lead. A&M-Commerce had an 18-17 lead with three minutes to play.

 

The Lions broke out of their slump late in the quarter, scoring two late buckets but those were matches by the TexAnns and the Lions took a 22-21 lead into halftime.

 

Riley led the Lions with seven points at halftime. Wise and Gay each had four points. Price led the Lions with eight rebounds. The Lions had 10 turnovers in the first half, seven of which came in the first quarter. Hailey and Iwobi both had seven points to lead TSU.

 

TSU hit a three to take its first lead of the game on the first play of the second half. The Lions took the lead right back, as Wise hit a layup and then Gay hit one of her own. The lead hovered at four for the first five minutes of the quarter.

 

Penina Faumui came in and was a spark for the Lions. She had an offensive rebound and put back and then had a steal on the defensive end. With three minutes to play, the third quarter was tied at 32.

 

The TexAnns made a run late in the third quarter. They scored eight unanswered points, holding A&M-Commerce scoreless for the final four minutes of the third quarter. TSU led 36-32 going into the final quarter.

 

The Lions broke their scoring drought when Riley got to the free throw line in the first minute of the fourth. On the next possession, Pickron hit a three to tie the game back up. Pickron then got a steal and gave the Lions back the lead with eight minutes to go in the game.

 

The Lions again hit a scoring drought early in the fourth. After the Lions retook the lead, the TexAnns scored the next six points and led 42-38 midway through quarter. Again free throws from Riley broke the streak. However, the shots continued not to fall for the Lions as they went five minutes without hitting a shot.

 

Pickron hit another three with two minutes to play to cut the TexAnn lead to just two. Wise hit a layup of her own and then drew contact to get to the free throw line. She knocked them both down and the Lions trailed by two with 43 seconds to play. The Lions fouled but TSU hit its free throws down the stretch to get the win.