Commerce – The Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball team defeated Eastern New Mexico 64-57 in an overtime game on Thursday. Behind the screams of more than 2,000 local ISD school spectators, the Lions overcame an eight-point deficit in the final quarter to force overtime and get the win.
The victory brings the Lions to 5-4 on the season and 2-1 in the Lone Star Conference. ENMU falls to 3-5 and 0-3 in conference play.
The Lions return to action on Saturday, hosting Western New Mexico. The game will be played at 11 a.m. at the Field House.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Brianna Wise scored a career-high 30 points, spending a large part of her time at the free throw line. She went 19-for-23 from the charity stripe and had six rebounds.
- Princess Davis had eight points and had two assists. She moved into sixth place in program history, passing former teammate Ashlee Johnson.
- Jenna Price had eight points and seven rebounds.
- The Lions shot 35 free throws in the game, making 27 of them. ENMU shot 11 free throws.
- ENMU led by as many as 14 early in the third quarter. The Lions outscored the Greyhounds by 15 points in the final quarter plus overtime.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Greyhounds jumped out early, scoring the first seven points of the game. After a layup from Price, ENMU scored two threes in a row to push their lead to 10 points late in the first quarter. Wise had a jumper and London Holland hit a three pointer to bring the ENMU lead to 13-8 after the first quarter.
The Lions cut the Greyhound lead to three points early in the second quarter. ENMU then pushed its lead back up to eight. ENMU improved its lead to as many as 12 in the quarter. Wise was active inside, reaching the foul line seven times, making six in the quarter. The Lions trailed 30-20 at halftime.
Wise had 11 points in the first half. She was the only Lion in the half to score more than one basket. The Lions shot just 29 percent in the first half while ENMU shot 50 percent.
An early three from ENMU gave them their largest lead of the day, a 34-20 lead, early in the third quarter. Davis made a bucket plus drew a foul, completing a three-point play to stem the Greyhound rally. It was part of a 6-0 run that cut the Greyhound lead to just eight midway through the third quarter.
Melanie Ransom and Jocelyn Pierce both hit jumpers as the lead was cut to six points late. The Greyhounds held a 40-32 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Lions cut the lead to just four points early in the fourth quarter. ENMU went on a 5-0 run before Wise hit a three pointer and two free throws to bring the lead back to four.
Wise took over the game late for the Lions. She scored the final 15 points of the quarter for the Lions and 17 of the Lions' 19 in the quarter. She was aggressive inside and got to the free throw line 10 times, making all 10 of them. She scored all points in an 8-0 run that gave the Lions their only lead in regulation. She drew a foul with 19 seconds remaining and drained both free throws to give the Lions a 51-49 lead.
ENMU had one final chance to tie the game and succeeded. Mikaehla Connor drove into the lane and nailed an off-balance shot with six seconds remaining. The Lions called timeout but could not hit a buzzer-beating shot to win, sending the game into overtime tied at 51.
After being held scoreless with foul trouble in regulation, Artaejah Gay drained a jumper early in the overtime period to give the Lions a lead. Ransom then hit a three as A&M-Commerce scored the first five points of the extra period. Two free throws from Price gave the Lions a 59-53 lead halfway through the overtime.
ENMU hit two consecutive jumpers to bring the Lion lead back down to just two with two minutes left. However, those were the last points the Greyhounds would score. Gay, Ransom and Wise scored the final five points from the free throw line and the Lions escaped with the overtime win.