Texas A&M-Commerce Heaves past Southern Arkansas
Posted by Houston Taylor on November 26, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Contact: Houston Taylor
COMMERCE, Texas – Twelfth-ranked Texas A&M-Commerce literally heaved its way past Southern Arkansas Monday, taking a 65-40 win at the A&M-Commerce Field House.
The Lions took an incredible 85 shots in the game to the Lady Muleriders’ 45 and held a whopping 70-33 rebound advantage, including 43 offensive boards. A&M-Commerce was all over the floor, forcing 27 SAU turnovers to aid in launching their shots. Southern Arkansas was just 14 of 45 from the field for only 31.1 percent, not good, but great compared to the Lions’ 23 of 85 for a dismal 27.1 percent. The home team just simply had more opportunities for shots to go in. Texas A&M-Commerce connected on four of 26 three-pointers (15.4) and hit 15 of 25 free throws (60.0). The Lady Muleriders were only one of 10 from downtown and canned 11 of 18 (61.1) from the charity stripe. They hit just three shots on 20 attempts in the second half for 15 percent.
After a tough 55-50 win in Magnolia November 17, the Lions (4-1) left no doubts this time as they jumped out to an 11-0 start in the first four minutes and never looked back. SAU missed its first five shots of the game and suffered four turnovers before finally getting on the board at 15:33 with Shardae Thompson’s jumper. Trailing 20-8, Southern Arkansas did manage a run to get within five at 22-17 on Kayla Jones’ lay-up at 6:38, but A&M-Commerce pushed it back to a 34-19 advantage with 2:58 left in the half. The Lady Muleriders used an 8-0 spree to close to within 34-27 at the break.
The Lions outscored SAU 20-5 over the first 10 minutes of the second stanza for a commanding 54-32 lead. They eventually claimed their largest lead of 28 points (63-35) with 2:57 remaining before settling for the 25-point margin. Southern Arkansas scored only 13 points in the second half.
Dominee Evans and Nola Taylor recorded double-doubles to combine for 28 points and 26 rebounds in pacing Texas A&M-Commerce. Evans finished with 15 points and 14 boards, while Taylor had 13 and 12, respectively. Britney Jordan chipped in 11 points and had five assists, and Brittany Williams pulled down 13 rebounds.
Goldie White was the lone Lady Mulerider in double-figures with 15 points, but was pressured into 10 turnovers. Jones and Calisha Kirk each had seven caroms.
SAU (3-3) looks to bounce back this weekend as they compete in the Arkansas-Monticello Mary Jane Gilbert Classic in Monticello. Southern Arkansas takes on Pittsburg State (Kan.) Friday at 5:30 p.m. before facing Paul Quinn (Texas) College on Saturday at noon.
