LSC Women's Basketball Championship Central

The Lone Star Conference Women’s Basketball Championship quarterfinal matchups are set with three higher seeds conquering and one upset in overtime in the opening round held on-campus Tuesday evening.
 
      The action continues March 4-5-6, with the final eight teams advancing to the Comerica Center for the last three rounds of the tournament. The women's quarterfinals will take place Friday, March 4, followed by the semifinals on Saturday, March 5, and the championship game on Sunday, March 6.
 
      Tickets to the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship are available as single-session passes. Prices are $15 for adults and $12 for students. Each single-session ticket includes two tournament games and is redeemable for the specified session only. Tickets can be purchased at the Comerica Center Box Office or online through Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com) now through the end of the tournament. Tickets purchased on Ticketmaster are subject to additional fees and taxes. No additional fees will be applied to tickets purchased at the Comerica Center Box Office.
 
(9) Texas A&M International 66, (8) Texas A&M-Kingsville 64 (OT)
KINGSVILLE, Texas – Raina Brown’s layup just before the buzzer gave Texas A&M International a 66-64 overtime win for the school’s first-ever victory in the LSC Championship.
 
      Down by three points to Texas A&M-Kingsville in the final 10 seconds, TAMIU tied the game when Emily Swiercz hit a 3-pointer and was fouled. Looking to take the lead with a free throw attempt with two seconds left, Swiercz missed the shot, but Eva Langton got the rebound and found Brown for the winning shot to stun the Javelinas, the eight-seed in the tournament, on their home floor at the Steinke Center.
 
      No. 9 seed TAMIU will advance to Friday’s semifinal round and face No. 1 seed West Texas A&M.
 
      The Javelinas looked to be in control in the fourth quarter, leading 51-42 with over six minutes to play. But TAMUK went ice cold from the floor and didn’t score another point in regulation, letting the Dustdevils rally back to force overtime.
 
      In the extra session, Brown gave TAMIU a four-point lead with 3:03 to play with a layup. But TAMUK fought back to tie the game and then hit five free throws in the final minute to lead 60-57 before the Dustdevils managed to get the final five points.
 
      Clara Fernandez led five double-digit scores for TAMIU with 15 points. Brown scored 14, including the two biggest points of the game.
 
      Brianna Pena scored 21 points for the Javelinas, along with four steals.
 
(5) Lubbock Christian 84, (12) UA-Fort Smith 67
LUBBOCK, Texas – While one streak might be much bigger than the other, Lubbock Christian continued a couple of streaks Tuesday night in an 84-67 win over UAFS.
 
      The Lady Chaps not only won their NCAA Division II-leading 104th consecutive home game at Rip Griffin Center, but also improved to 7-0 in LSC Championship games.
 
      With five straight wins, LCU (25-5) will play No. 4 seed Angelo State on Friday in Frisco at 8:30 p.m. in pursuit of a third-straight tournament title.
 
      The two-time defending champions aren’t used to playing in the first round, but it was hard to tell. LCU, the No. 5 seed in the tournament, controlled the game from start to finish but never could easily pull away from the 12th seed UAFS.
 
      The Lady Chaps led by 18 in the third quarter, but the Lions battled back and used a 10-0 run to cut the lead to five. But like they’ve done so many times, especially at home, LCU found a way to win.
 
      In the fourth quarter, LCU was too strong and leaned on its leaders such as Allie Schulte and Ashton Duncan to carry them into the quarterfinal round. They were two of five LCU players to score in double figures. Schulte led the way with 17 points with six rebounds and three assists before fouling out. Duncan and Grace Foster each scored 15, while Laynee Burr and Audrey Robertson each added 10.
 
      UAFS ends the season at 7-18 with a five-game losing streak. The Lions did have four players score in double figures, led by Paige Elston with 18 points. Mar’Shalia Lollie added 12 points and nine rebounds. Off the bench, Kalina Foster scored 13 points and Dachelle Terry added 11.
 
(6) Cameron 88, (11) Eastern New Mexico 85
LAWTON, Okla. – In a back-and-forth affair that saw 24 second-half lead changes, Cameron used two clutch free throws and then forced a desperation 3-point attempt for Eastern New Mexico that fell short as the Aggies survived for an 88-85 win at Aggie Gym Tuesday night.
 
      CU’s Maighan Hedge drilled two free throws with 16 seconds left to extend the Aggies’ lead to three. On the other end, solid defense on the perimeter required ENMU’s Natalie Stice to take an off-balance shot that didn’t hit the rim. The Aggies (18-10) controlled the board and raced to the other end to celebrate with their teammates as they secured just the school’s third-ever LSC Championship victory.
 
      The Aggies will advance to Friday’s quarterfinal round to play No. 3 seed Texas A&M-Commerce at Noon in Frisco.
 
      In the fourth quarter, Cameron led 66-60 but the Greyhounds went on a 10-1 run to take a three-point lead.
 
      From there, the teams traded the lead six times before the Aggies got consecutive 3-pointers from Whitney Outon to take an 82-77 lead.
 
      The Greyhounds, who end their season with a 10-14 record, had a nine-point lead after the first quarter but saw Cameron race back to grab a one-point lead at the half, 41-40. The Aggies pushed the lead to 11 in the third quarter before ENMU charged back, only to come up short in the final seconds.
 
      Hedge led the scoring for Cameron with 22 points, while Outon and Katie King each scored 14. Stephanie Peterson had 17 points.
 
      The Greyhounds had four players in double figures, led by 23 points from Meme Amand, who also had 12 rebounds. Iyanna McCurdy scored 20 points, Stice had 17 and Bella Stone scored 16.
 
(7) UT Tyler 55, (10) Midwestern State 38
TYLER, Texas – The UT Tyler Patriots entered their first-ever LSC Championship game Thursday night knowing they’ve got one of the best defenses in the conference.
 
      And sure enough, the No. 7 seeded Patriots put it on display, cruising to a 55-38 win over No. 10 Midwestern State at the Louise Herrington Patriot Center. 
 
      UTT (18-8) not only picked up its first tournament win in the LSC, but advances to Friday’s quarterfinal round to play No. 2 seed Texas Woman’s at 2:30 p.m. in Frisco.  
     
      They’ll need to replicate the defensive effort the Patriots showed on Thursday, when they held MSU to just 20.6 percent shooting, easily its worst night of the season. The Mustangs were 2-22 from 3-point land, including 0-12 in the second half. And even when they weren’t being guarded, the Mustangs were just 57.1 from the line (8-14), evidence of just how tough it was to put points on the board.
 
      MSU had just two players in double figures as Frances King and Hannah Reynolds each scored 10. 
     
      On the other side, UTT was led by Destini Whitehead, who scored 17 points. Martina Machalova had 16 points and Liah Davis scored 10 and grabbed 14 rebounds. 
     
      UTT led just 26-21 at the half but used an 11-4 run to build the lead to double-digits and never looked back. 
     
      This was the third meeting between the two teams this year. UTT won 86-60 at home in a conference matchup in January and also beat MSU 55-50 in non-conference on the road in December. 
     
      In both losses, MSU had two of its worst shooting performances of the year, but nothing compared to the ice-cold night from the floor and line Thursday night. 
     
      MSU ends the season at 14-13, while the Patriots will move on to Frisco for Friday’s quarterfinal.
 
 
2022 LSC Women’s Basketball Championship, Comerica Center, Frisco, Texas
Tuesday, March 1, 2022 (first round games on-campus)
No. 12 UAFS at No. 5 Lubbock Christian, Lubbock, LCU 84-67
No. 11 Eastern New Mexico at No. 6 Cameron, CU 88-85
No. 10 Midwestern State at No. 7 UT Tyler, UTT 55-38
No. 9 Texas A&M International at No. 8 Texas A&M-Kingsville, TAMIU 66-64 (OT)
 
Friday, March 4, 2022 (Comerica Center, Frisco, Texas)
SESSION THREE
Game 5: Noon, No. 3 Texas A&M-Commerce vs. No. 6 Cameron
Game 6: 2:30 p.m., No. 2 Texas Woman's vs. No. 7 UT Tyler
SESSION FOUR
Game 7: 6 p.m., No. 1 West Texas A&M vs. No. 9 Texas A&M International
Game 8: 8:30 p.m., No. 4 Angelo State vs. No. 5 Lubbock Christian
 
Saturday, March 5, 2022 (Comerica Center, Frisco, Texas)
SESSION SIX
Game 11: 6 p.m., Women Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8
Game 12: 8:30 p.m., Women Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6
 
Sunday, March 6, 2022 (Comerica Center, Frisco, Texas)
SESSION SEVEN
Game 14: 3:30 p.m., Women’s Championship: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12