Harris making name as Lions' court leader

Breanna Harris, a sophomore forward on the Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball squad, has stood out this season while racking up some impressive numbers.

Harris, a transfer from Hampton University, has been a strong addition to the A&M-Commerce women's basketball team, and is the second leading scorer on the team with 201 points behind sophomore guard Danielle Dixon. 

Harris leads the team as well as the Lone Star Conference in rebounds with 9.2 game along with averaging 11.4 points per game. She had a career-high game of 17 rebounds against Texas Woman's University back on Dec. 13.

Just over a month later, Harris had her career-best performance of 20 points against Tarleton State on Jan. 18. Harris also leads the Lions with seven double-doubles this season. 

Harris graduated from Mansfield Summit High School and accepted an athletic scholarship from Hampton University to play basketball. After a year, she transferred to A&M-Commerce, where she was guaranteed a starting position and more playing time.

"When I was playing for Hampton, I just wasn't feeling it and we didn't really have strong team chemistry," Harris said. "I decided to come back closer to home and I've known Coach [Nicole] Anderson since my senior year in high school, so we have pretty strong relationship. I plan to stay and play here in Commerce for the rest of my college years."

Despite the teams' record Harris believes even after just one win in the season, the Lions can turn things around in the end of the season.  

"Even though we're at 1-17, I still have faith and believe in my team because not playing in the postseason tournament is like sitting on Mars and its unreal," Harris said. 

She feels the team could make something positive happen out of such a rough season. Harris explained how she tries and keeps the team motivated, believing that there's always a second chance to make something happen. 

"During this last stretch of the season, I just plan to work hard and do what I can for my teammates since that's all I can do," Harris said.

Harris mentioned that she discovered that playing basketball at the Division I level is much different than in Division II. 

"I want to become a leader, and I hope my team listens to me when I'm trying to encourage them, because I know what it takes to get to the highest level," Harris said. "When offseason comes we need to learn from our mistakes, get better, work hard, and become leaders. Next season is a whole new look."