Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
COMMERCE, Texas — Texas A&M-Commerce took advantage of a road-weary Eastern New Mexico University squad on Saturday, using a 22-7 third quarter to pull away to an 85-67 Lone Star Conference women’s victory that knocked the Greyhounds out of sole possession of first place.
The loss for Eastern (16-5, 12-2 LSC) allowed Angelo State an opportunity to move into tie for first place, and the Rambelles took advantage with a 65-45 win over Midwestern State.
Brianna Wise scored 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting to lead four players in double figures for Commerce (16-6, 10-4). She, along with fellow starters Artaejah Gay (19), Khala Riley (14) and Krystal Pickron (11) posted nearly enough on their own (66) to top the Hounds.
The other starter, Jenna Price, added six points and finished with eight rebounds to tie Pickron for game-high honors in that category.
No starter scored more than six points for Eastern, which got 18 points from Kassandra Harris, 12 from Sarina Johnson and 11 from Jasmine Hotchkins 11 off the bench. For the game, ENMU’s reserves outscored the Lions’ subs 49-13.
The Hounds, who survived Tarleton State 81-76 in double overtime Thursday, scored the game’s first five points and largely kept control of a tight contest in the first half.
They were done in by a third quarter where they shot 3-of-16 and surrendered the first 10 points as Commerce turned around a 46-42 halftime deficit.
The lead never dropped into single digits in the fourth, and ballooned to 21 when Gay notched a putback with 2:28 to play.
The second-half power outage turned what had started as a decent afternoon shooting into a 23-of-65 effort —including a 6-of-27 effort from beyond the arc.
The Hounds shot exceptionally well from the line, but quantity ruled the day as Commerce went 32-of-37 to Eastern’s 15-of-17. Wise went 7-for-7, while Riley was 6-for-6.
The Hounds will set a school record for conference wins in a season with their next victory, and the final stretch should give them some opportunities with four of the final six at Greyhound Arena, beginning with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff against Western New Mexico on Tuesday and a 6 p.m. start against Texas Woman’s on Thursday.
