A 15-4 spurt to start the second half launched the Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions past the Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm, 78-74, on Saturday afternoon at the A&M-Commerce Field House.??A&M-C has now won three straight, pushing its overall record to 14-5 and 3-1 in Lone Star Conference North Division play.?LSC North foe Southeastern Oklahoma falls to 10-8 and 1-2.??Lions’ guard Melissa Bratton led the charge in the second, scoring 14 points and grabbing six rebounds. She finished with 17 points and 11 boards.??”Bratton was huge,” said Lions coach Denny Downing. “She had a double-double, what more can you ask for?”??She also had to chore of covering Southeastern’s top scorer, Jessica Hocker.??Hocker had been averaging 16.6 points, but the Lions held her to just 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor. She had been getting 9.52 free throw attempts per game, but the Lions only put her on the stripe four times, where she hit all four.??”It was a point to keep her off the free throw line,” said Downing.Bratton picked up Lone Star Conference North Division Player of the Week honors for her efforts.??A&M-C built its lead to as much as 19 points in the second period, but Southeastern kept climbing back and closed the game on a 10-1 run.??Trista Shomo paced the Savage Storm with 18 points, including four 3-pointers.??The Lions dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Savage Storm 23-12 on the offensive end and 52-38 overall. ??Katedria Mosley almost dropped in a double-double, totaling 15 points and nine rebounds.??Britney Jordan helped the Lions hold a 36-33 at the half, scoring 10 of her 14 points in the first session.
A&M-C downs NortheasternThe Northeastern State (Okla.) RiverHawks erased an 18-point first half deficit with nine 3-pointers in the second, but the Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions held on late for a 75-69 victory at the A&M-C Field House on Wednesday night.??Tarika Campbell earned her first start of the season for A&M-Commerce, connecting on a big 3-pointer with 1:49 left to extend the Lions lead to six at 73-67.??”You can’t put a price on that three she hit,” said Lions coach Denny Downing.??Jezzal Quintana nailed a jumper with 1:22 remaining to pull the RiverHawks to within four, but a miss on their next possession and two clutch free throws from Lions’ guard Britney Jordan sealed the victory.??A&M-C raises its overall record to 13-5 and 2-1 in Lone Star Conference North Division play, while Northeastern State falls even at 9-9 and 2-1.??The Lions built an 18-point advantage at the 3:52 mark on two free throws from Jordan, but the RiverHawks began their comeback attempt, cutting the Lions’ lead to 40-30 at the half.??Jordan scored 17 of her 21 points in the first half and finished with four assists and two rebounds.??”We had good player movement and ball movement (in the first),” said Downing.??Kim Hunter paced the RiverHawks, scoring 24 points on 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.??Northeastern State, ranked No. 1 in the Lone Star Conference in 3-pointers made per game, finished 13-of-30 from 3-point land, its most all season.??Quintana scored 21 points and Verressa Gaston tallied 10 points for the RiverHawks.??The Lions had three players join Jordan in double figures with Melissa Bratton (16), Katedria Mosley (13) and Nola Taylor (11) helping the team shoot 48.1 percent from the floor.??Campbell finished with eight points, three assists, two rebounds and two blocks.