LSC Women's Basketball Championship Central

The top seed in the LSC Championship had a fight on its hands for four quarters but Texas A&M-Commerce found a way to advance Thursday night in the quarterfinal round.

Using an 11-0 run to start the fourth quarter, the Lions pulled away from No. 8 seed St. Mary’s for a 70-60 win at Comerica Center.

Looking to win their first tournament title in 13 years, the Lions (27-2) advance to Saturday’s semifinal matchup with the winner of Tarleton/Eastern New Mexico. A&M-Commerce is also ranked third in the latest regional rankings but could still host next week’s tournament in Commerce with two more wins in Frisco.

For the Rattlers, the season comes to an end with a 14-14 record. But they didn’t go quietly, hitting two 3-pointers at the end of the third quarter to cut the Lions’ lead to 46-42. But that’s when Commerce responded, reeling off 11 straight points and eventually pushing the lead to 15 at one point.

All-LSC first-teamer Alexis Bryant had 10 points and eight rebounds. Chania Wright led the Lions with 12 points and Mykiel Burleson came off the bench to score 10.

A&M-Commerce picked up the pace with a strong defense, forcing 24 turnovers by the Rattlers, which led to a 26-8 advantage in points off turnovers. The Lions also had a big edge at the free-throw line, both in attempts and makes. Commerce hit 15 of 25 while the Rattlers went to the stripe just five times, making only two.

StMU junior Soteria Banks, a first-team All-LSC selection, had an off night, scoring just nine points. She entered the game ranked fourth in the conference with a 17.1 average, but shot just 4 of 14 from the floor. Picking up the slack for the Rattlers were Hannah Wilson, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds. Sydney Hardeman came off the bench to add 13 points.

A&M-Commerce Notes:

• After going just 2-13 from 3-point land in the first three quarters, the Lions were 4-of-7 in the fourth quarter.
• The Lions have now won both meetings against the Rattlers this year after beating St. Mary’s 73-49 back in November in Commerce.
• A&M-Commerce has won just one LSC Championship, winning the tournament in 2007, the last year before the conference went to a neutral-site format for the final three rounds.
• The Lions extended their program-record with 27 wins this season. The 20 conference wins was also a school record.
• Head coach Jason Burton has the most wins in school history, getting his 115th victory Thursday night.

 
StMU Notes:

• The Rattlers made six 3-pointers, but all of them occurred in the second half, after shooting 0-5 in the first half.  
• St. Mary’s set a new single-season school record with 211 makes beyond the 3-point arc this season.
• Wilson, the only player in the LSC to average a double-double this season, notched her 12^th double-double of the year with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
• Despite the loss, the Rattlers once again outrebounded their opponent, beating the Lions on the glass 39-36. St. Mary’s won the rebounding edge 21 of 27 games this year.