Once again, the Lions played over their heads against a favored opponent. But this time, the Texas A&M University-Commerce women’s basketball team didn’t have quite enough for another upset victory. Midwestern State defeated the Lions 65-60 in the semifinal round of the Lone Star Conference championship tournament in Allen on March 6.
The Lions (14-14) are done for the 2014-15 season, while the Mustangs (23-5) will play in the conference title game on March 7 at the Allen Event Center. A&M-Commerce entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed, while Midwestern State began play as the No. 2 seed.
Both team struggled to score during the game, but the Mustangs took advantage of 22 A&M-Commerce turnovers to come away the winner. Midwestern State used a second-half surge to take a 27-20 halftime lead, which they never relinquished in the second half. The Lions closed the gap to three in the closing minutes, but three consecutive steals by the Mustangs prevented A&M-Commerce from turning crucial late-game possessions into points.
“No question - 22 turnovers to nine (Midwestern State turnovers) – they score 18 points off turnovers and that the difference in the game in a five-point loss,” Lions head coach Jason Burton said.
Freshman forward Atraejah Gay led A&M-Commerce scorers with 19 points. Gay also pulled down eight rebounds, as did senior forward La’Tisha Hearne. The Lions out-rebounded Midwestern State 52-38, thanks in part to seven boards from junior guard Gabby Scott and six from freshman guard Princess Davis.
“I have nothing but good things to say about these ladies because they fought,” Burton said. “And to do it and play the way we did (in) our last two games without our senior Ashlee Johnson, an (all-conference) defensive player, top five in the league in minutes played? She was a key piece to us and our backup point guard. They played their tail off and I’m proud of them.”
Johnson, a senior and Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Year, missed the tournament due to injury.
Midwestern State senior guard Dianna Jones led the Mustangs with 18 points, while Andrea Carter totaled 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Lions battled to the LSC’s final four in Burton’s first year at the helm of the program. The team entered the season mourning the death teammates Aubree Butts Devin Oliver, who were killed in a June 2014 auto accident in Paris. The 2014 Lone Star Conference preseason poll placed the Lions eighth in the nine-team circuit.
Instead, A&M-Commerce finished sixth and came within two possessions of the conference title game in a season highlighted by an 80-65 upset of Cameron in the LSC quarterfinals on March 5.
“We overcame everything that stood in our way,” Hearne said. “Today might not have been the outcome we wanted, but we came together and we played team basketball.”
Burton credited the achievements of this year’s team to the work put in by team leaders like Hearne.
“Tish has been a warrior for us all year,” Burton said. “She’s playing with a broken foot right now. People don’t know that … I wouldn’t have had this success as a coach if I didn’t have her.”
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