FRISCO, Texas — The Texas A&M-Commerce Lions came into Saturday’s game looking for revenge against West Texas A&M who defeated them both times this season and in this very same game in last years Lone Star Conference Tournament semifinal round. Unfortunately the Lions did not do enough on offense to down the mighty #1 seed, falling 58-44 in the Comerica Center.
Lions came into this game seeking revenge against WT after being swept in the season series and losing in this very same round a year ago. Lions left all their clutch baskets and most of their makes in general back in round one on Friday, shooting just 28.8 percent from the field. The Lions had trouble making almost everything in this semifinal matchup against WT.
For the Lions, Alexis Bryant led the way in scoring for head coach Jason Burton and company with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Senior Princess Davis had an off night after her 25 point burst in game one, but WT managed to hold her in check. She still managed to be the second leading scorer for the Lions with 11 points, but it came on just 2-for-13 from the field and seven of those eleven coming from the free throw line.
“We allowed them to get a lot of offensive rebounds, especially after free throws didn’t go in,” Princess said. “We allowed them extra possessions. From a team standpoint, we just couldn’t finish, including myself.”
Abby Spurgin led WT with a near triple-double in the game as she tallied 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks. She has been a key piece for West Texas all year as she has continued to develop. She had some assistance from a pair of lady buffs, one being teammate and Player of the Year/All-LSC First Team/All-Academic Team honoree Lexy Hightower who garnished 11 points and Delaney Nix matched that with her own 11 points. The Lions came into the game +7.5 in the rebounding differential, but WT held a big advantage in the rebound battle in the game, 41-29.The Lady Buffs now lead the all-time series 60-7, going 2-10 since Jason Burton arrived in Commerce. Head Coach Kristen Mattio was presented Coach of the Year honors for the second straight season. Three other lady buffs receiving awards consists of Tyesha Taylor who got All-LSC First Team honors, Deleyah Harris picked up All-LSC Third Team and All-LSC Defensive Team honors, along with Megan Gamble obtaining Honorable Mention honors.
A&M-Commerce shot not higher than 33 percent in all but the first quarter where they were 6-for-12 and 50 percent shooting. It was a mixture of missed shots a late surge by Spurgin as she managed to get three of her six blocks in the final quarter. WT was struggling shooting the ball in the, but her extra effort protecting the rim kept the distance between them and the Lions comeback.
“It was not a great shooting night for the Lions,” said head coach Jason Burton. “If before the game you tell me we are going to hold WT to 58 points, I think we win the game with how we have been scoring the ball all year. I think we got good looks. I’ll take some of Bryant’s looks in the paint or some of Princess’ drives. But at the end of the day, we just didn’t knock down shots.”
After the game, Davis achieved some more milestones and got even closer to a couple more. Two minutes into the game she became the all-time leader in minutes played in Lions history (men’s and women’s) and also became the leader in games played by any player ever in Lion history. Davis is now also just 3 steals away from moving into 7th place all-time in steals in program history, along with 13 assists away from being the all-time leader in assists for Lion women’s basketball.
Next Matchup: Lions came into the Lone Star Conference tournament in 8th place in the South Central Region rankings, but after defeating Eastern New Mexico in the first round and nothing shaking up in the other conference tournaments to affect seeding, the switch places with ENMU and have the 7th seed in the region and will face the 2nd seed Colorado Mesa. The game will be played in Colorado due to both WT teams being the #1 seed in the region so Colorado Mesa is selected as the host of the South Central Region. Game time is set for 5p.m. MDT in Grand Junction, Colorado.
