A&M-Commerce Cleans Glass, Stuns ACU, 80-79 - Lone Star Conference Skip To Main Content
Jeremy Enlow

Women's Basketball By Nick Eatman

A&M-Commerce Cleans Glass, Stuns ACU, 80-79

 This is the time of year for upsets in college basketball and the opening game of the 2013 LSC Basketball Championship was no exception.

            Led by junior forward Breanna Harris, who had 25 points and 15 rebounds, seventh-seed Texas A&M-Commerce dominated the boards all game and hit clutch baskets down the stretch to upend Abilene Christian, 80-79, Wednesday afternoon at the Allen Event Center. ACU, the No. 2 seed, was the co-champions of the LSC with a 21-6 overall record.

            The victory for the Lions, who improved to 11-15, marked their first postseason victory since the 2009 season. 

            A&M-Commerce out-rebounded the Wildcats 50-24 and 23-3 overall in offensive rebounds.  

            The Lions led by as many as seven with three minutes to play, but ACU clawed back to within two, but Harris corralled her 15th rebound after a missed shot and scored a put-back and foul to extend the lead to five.

            ACU made its first three-point shot with just five seconds left, to cut the Lions lead to 80-79 but surprisingly enough, none of the Wildcats players were able to foul as the Lions ran out the clock.

            Along with Harris, Symone Brown scored 13 points and had seven rebounds in just 16 minutes of action because of foul trouble. Devin Oliver scored 12, while Danielle Dixon added 14. Sarah Duran scored six off the bench, but had two big baskets that occurred soon after Brown fouled out with 5:27 to play.

            ACU’s Renata Marquez led all scorers with 28 points for the Wildcats on 8 of 14 shooting from the field. Mackenzie Lankford and Kelsey Smith each scored 15 points.  Smith also had six blocks.

            But ACU’s biggest problem, other than its inability to block out on the boards, was 3-point shooting. The Wildcats were 1 of 10, and didn’t connect their first trey until the final seconds. The 10 attempts are the lowest of the season, with 18 being the previous low earlier in the year.

            The game pitted both winners of the LSC Co-Coach of the Year in ACU’s Julie Goodenough and Nicole Anderson of A&M-C.

            The Lions will play the winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal game between third-seed West Texas A&M and sixth-seeded Angelo State.
 
For updates throughout the LSC Championships, follow @lonestarconf on twitter.

A&M-C vs ACU Gallery

 
Texas A&M-Commerce Notes
  • - Texas A&M-Commerce claimed a win in their first Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament appearance since 2009.
  • - The Lions have won four of their last five quarterfinal round games dating back to the 2006 season. They also beat Abilene Christian by a 76-74 margin to start the 2009 tournament in Bartlesville, Okla.
  • - A&M-Commerce improved to 7-11 in LSC Postseason Tournament opening round games and will face the winner of Thursday's opening round matchup between (3) West Texas A&M and (6) Angelo State Friday at noon.
  • - A&M-Commerce held Abilene Christian without a 3-point field goal until Whitney West connected on a trey with 3 seconds remaining. ACU was seventh in NCAA Division II with 8.7 3s per game and had hit at least four in every game this season.
  • - A&M-Commerce controlled the glass by a 50-24 margin converting 23 offensive boards into a 28-2 second-chance points edge.
  • - Junior forward Breanna Harris notched her 12th double-double of the season with a game-high 25 points and 15 rebounds.
  • - Sophomore guard Devin Oliver was perfect from the floor at 4-for-4 including a pair of 3-pointers to finish with 12 points off of the bench. It was just second double-figure effort of the campaign as she also scored 14 at Midwestern State on Feb. 20.


Abilene Christian Notes
  • ACU is now 28-18 all-time in LSC tournament play with the loss.
  • ACU is now 52-11 all-time versus Texas A&M-Commerce.
  • ACU has now lost five straight conference tournament games and seven straight post-season games.
  • The Wildcats are now 5-2 in conference tournament games against Texas A&M-Commerce.
  • 42 first-half points are the most allowed by ACU this season.
  • Today marks the 7th time ACU has trailed at halftime in their 27 games this season.  In their previous six games, ACU is 3-3 in those other six games.
  • Kelsey Smith broke the record for blocks in a single tournament game with six. The previous of five was held by Angie Dill vs. Angelo State, 1986; Aukse Steponaviciute vs. West Texas A&M, 1997; Lynsie Blau vs. East Central, 2004.
  • Renata Marquez set a new career high in points with 28. Her previous career high was 25.
  • The 80 points is the second-most points given up by the Wildcats this season.