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TAMUC – Sports

Utah Tech downed Lion Women’s Basketball.

ST. GEORGE, UTAH – The road trip to Utah ends with an 82-62 loss for the Texas A&M University-Commerce women’s basketball team on Saturday at Burns Arena. 

The Lions scored the first two points of the game, but the Trailblazers made back-to-back three-pointers to go up 6-2 and not tied again. Utah Tech went 13 for 30 from a distance and had 27 shots from the field. 

After trailing by 17 at halftime, A&M-Commerce outscored Utah Tech 26-15 in the third quarter to push the lead down to six. The Lions ended the third quarter on a 13-0 run. Utah Tech had a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to go back up by 17. Utah had the 23-9 edge in the fourth quarter, leading by 22 points. 

Macie Warren scored 18 points for the Trailblazers, Maggie McCord had 17 points, and 13 rebounds, and Breaunna Gillen had 17 points. Emily Isaacson scored 13 points, and five rebounds as four of the five starters for Utah Tech scored in double digits. 

The Lions were led in scoring by Laila Lawrence (Lewisville), who came off the bench and totaled 14 points and seven rebounds. She shot 6-for-7 from the field. DesiRay Kernal (Newton, Kan.) returned to the starting lineup and led the team with eight rebounds while recording six steals, three assists, and 12 points. 

A&M-Commerce’s bench outscored Utah Tech 29-11. Olivia Russell (Auburn Hills, Mich.) had eight points off the bench, while Symmone James (McKinney – Boyd) and Dyani Robinson (Langham Creek) started the game and had seven points each. Robinson and Asiyha Smith (Conway, Ark.) had four assists each. Russell and Robinson grabbed six rebounds each. 

The Lions played 14 players on Saturday, while Utah Tech used 11. 

The Trailblazers came into the game with a scoring average of 93 points per game, which was fifth among the Division I team, and improved to 5-2 on the season. The Lions have lost their last six and are 1-6 on the season. The six-game losing streak is the longest since 2013-14.

UP NEXT

A&M-Commerce is back at home on Wednesday to face Idaho at 6:00 pm. That game is the final non-conference home game.

 

Photo – Whitney O’Dell

Lion Men’s Basketball rolls into Denver on Sunday.

COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men’s basketball is back in the lower 48 states and takes on Denver on Sunday afternoon for the middle game of the three-game road swing. The Lions are riding a three-game winning streak. 

WHO: A&M-Commerce at Denver

WHERE: Denver | Hamilton Center

WHEN: Sunday, December 4 | 2:00 pm MST

RECORDS: The Lions have won three in a row and are 4-4 on the season, while the Pioneers are 7-1.

RANKINGS: A&M-Commerce is ranked No. 257 in the KenPom rankings, and Hawaii is No. 247. 

LIVE AUDIO: Lion Sports Network – KETR 88.9 FM, Commerce (http://www.ketr.org)

LIVE VIDEO: https://denverpioneers.com/showcase?Live=713

LIVE STATS: https://denverpioneers.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

GAME NOTES: TAMUC (PDF) 

 ALOHA LIONS

• A&M-Commerce is coming to a thrilling 53- 51 win at Hawaii on Thursday.

• The Lions led by as much as 14 points in the game, the largest Hawaii has faced this season.

• A&M-Commerce had the lead for nearly 33 minutes, while Hawaii had only trailed for 19 minutes all season before the game.

• The Lions jumped 20 spots in the Ken­Pom rankings following the win over the Rainbow Warriors. 

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST THE PIONEERS

• This is the first meeting ever between A&M-Commerce and Denver. 

THREE IN A ROW

• A&M-Commerce has won three games in a row coming into Sunday, which is the lon­gest winning streak of the season.

• This is the longest streak for the Lions since winning four in a row during the 2021- 22 season.

• The Lions had a winning streak of six games and two streaks of four consec­utive wins last season. 

IMPRESSIVE HOME OPENER

• After being on the road to start the season for the first six games, the Li­ons hosted Arlington Baptist on Monday.

• The stretch of the first six games away from the Field House is the longest stretch since six games to begin the 2009- 10 season.

• The Lions scored 100 points or more for the first time since 2019 in the win over the Patriots. 

LIONS TIE SINGLE-GAME ASSIST RECORD

• A&M-Commerce tied the program record of 31 assists on Monday, which it also had against Our Lady of the Lake on November 13, 2018. 

VON ROSENBERG WINS N0. 50 IN FIELD HOUSE

•Monday’s win gave coach Jaret von Rosenberg his 50th win at home. He is 50-12 all-time in the Field House. 

DEMONIA NAMED TO THE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

• Demarcus Demonia continues his excellent start to the season by being named to the all-tournament team for the Capitol Classic in Atlanta.

• He is averaging 16.4 points per game, leading the Southland and the top-rated player in the Southand by Ken­Pom. 

NEVER COUNT OUT THESE LIONS

• A&M-Commerce has fought back from 10-point deficits in four of the six games against Division I opponents this season to either tie the game or make it a one-posses­sion game.

• The Lions were down by six at Air Force be­fore winning the game while fighting back from being down 20 at Northern Colorado to tie the game in the final minute.

• In Sunday’s win over Eastern Kentucky, the Lions trailed by seven points. 

A HISTORIC FIRST WIN

• A&M-Commerce collected its first win in NCAA Division I on November 14, prevailing in overtime over Air Force.

• The Lions trailed by six points in overtime but sealed the win via a dunk by Demarcus Demonia.

• The Lions moved nine spots in the Ken­Pom rankings following the win. 

THEY WERE CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR

• The Lions played two close games to start the season but failed to secure the win in both games.

• In the loss at Northern Colorado, the Lions had two chances to tie the game in the final minute but could not get the shot in the net.

• The season-opening game at SMU tied with 13 minutes left in the second half be­fore the Mustangs pulled away. 

UNCHARTERED TERRITORY

• A&M-Commerce is in its first Division I season and the Southland Conference.

• The Lions are coming off four NCAA Tour­nament appearances in their last six chanc­es to close out the Division II era.

• This is the first time A&M-Commerce has switched classifications since moving from NAIA to NCAA Division II in the 1980s. 

LIONS APPEAR IN NATIONAL RANKINGS

• The Lions are ranked No. 257 in the Ken­Pom rankings, the third best in the Southland Conference. 

The LIONS PICKED SEVENTH IN THE SLC

• A&M-Commerce was picked to finish seventh in the Southland Conference, as voted on by the conference’s head coaches and sports information directors.

• The Lions tallied 56 points in the rankings, a point better than Houston Christian. 

RE-TOOLED ROSTER

• The Lions return just one starter from a year ago in Demarcus Demonia.

• This season’s roster features six new transfers and four freshmen.

• Of the six transfers, three come from other Division I schools, and three come from the Junior College level.

• The Lion freshmen come to Commerce from all over the country, including Texas, Minnesota, and New Jersey. 

YOUNG AND HAPPY

• Based on our research, A&M-Commerce’s coaching staff is the youngest in NCAA Division I this season, with a combined age of 128 among head coach Jaret von Rosenberg and assistant coaches Coleman FurstYolonzo Moore, and Ted Rawlings.

Youngest Staffs in the Country

Team Combined Age
A&M-COMMERCE 128
UT Martin 135
Portland 139

TIME ZONES ARE AMAZING
• A&M-Commerce is slated to play in four time zones this season and have at least one game in each of the four time zones in the month of November.
• The Lions are playing in the Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Hawaii Time Zones in 2022-23.
• There are 12 other teams in Division I that are playing in four time zones as well.

School Time Zones
Boise State ET, CT, MT, PT
Creighton ET, CT, PT, Hawaii
CSU Bakersfield ET, MT, PT, Hawaii
Dayton Atlantic (Bahamas), ET, CT, PT
Iona ET, MT, PT, Hawaii
Missouri State ET, CT, MT, PT
Rice ET, CT, MT, PT
A&M-COMMERCE ET, CT, MT, HAWAII
Texas State ET, CT, PT, Hawaii
Southern ET, CT, MT, PT
Southern Utah CT, MT, PT, Hawaii
Stanford ET, CT, MT, PT

AMONG THE NATION’S BEST BLOCKERS
• A&M-Commerce blocked 5.7 shots per game last season, which was second among all Division II teams.
• The Lions blocked 11 shots in the win over Harding (December 6) and nine against Oklahoma Christian (December 11).

LIONS LOVE BUZZER-BEATERS
• Last season, the Lions made three buzzer-beaters from near half court.
• Augustine Ene drilled a jumper to beat the buzzer and tie the game at 28 against Seattle Pacific on December 13.
• Jairus Roberson beat the first-half buzzer against Ouachita Baptist from about 40 feet away on November 26.
• Alphonso Willis also made his buzzer-beater from about 40-feet away. His shot gave the Lions the win at UTSA on November 15.
 

Morrison, Griffin, and Peters earn Southland All-Academic honors.

FRISCO – Three Texas A&M University-Commerce soccer team members earned all-academic team honors from the Southland Conference on Friday morning. 

They named sophomore forward Karalie Morrison (Colleyville Heritage) to the first-team all-academic team. In contrast, sophomore defender Hailey Griffin (Trophy Club – Byron Nelson) received the second-team with senior goalkeeper Jen Peters (Allen). 

To be eligible for all-academic distinction, an athlete must hold a minimum 3.00 cumulative grade point average through the semester before the sport’s championship. They must also complete at least one full academic year at the nominating school before the current season and participate in at least 50 percent of the team’s competitions during the most recently completed season. In addition, Student-Athlete of the Year nominees must have held at least a 3.20 GPA and have completed at least two years of athletic competition at the nominating school, including the current season. 

First Team All-Conference athletes who meet all-academic nomination criteria are automatically named all-academic. 

They also named Morrison to second team all-conference. She is a criminal justice major and totaled three goals and six assists in 2022. 

Griffin, a general business major, played all but one match this season and was part of the defensive unit that allowed the second-fewest goals during conference play. 

Peters played in 15 matches and recorded 22 saves during the Southland Conference Soccer Tournament, in which the Lions set the tournament record with 28 saves. She is a kinesiology & sports studies major. 

The Lions went 9-9-2 in 2022, finishing third in the Southland during the regular season and advancing to the conference tournament championship match.

2022 Southland Conference Soccer All-Academic Teams
First Team

Pos. Name School Class Hometown GPA Major
D Arely Alaniz * Lamar Jr. Deer Park, Texas 3.19 Exercise Science
D Nicole Henry *4 Northwestern State Gr. Tomball, Texas 3.355 Industrial Engineering Technology
D Natalee Henry * Northwestern State Gr. Tomball, Texas 3.275 Industrial Engineering
D Hallie Field 3 Northwestern State Sr. Frisco, Texas 4.00 Accounting
MF Mya Guillory *3 Southeastern Sr. Prairieville, La. 3.70 Health Sciences
MF Delaney Wells * Northwestern State Jr. Flower Mound, Texas 3.329 Elementary Education
MF Emma Gibbs A&M-Corpus Christi Sr. Longmont, Colo. 4.00 Nursing
MF Katie Marker HCU Jr. Friendswood, Texas 3.776 Biology
F Olivia Draguicevich *3 Northwestern State Sr. Pflugerville, Texas 3.496 Communications
F Megan Guy A&M-Corpus Christi So. Roanoke, Texas 4.00 Psychology
F Karalie Morrison A&M-Commerce So. North Richland Hills, Texas 3.80 Criminal Justice
F Emily Jaimes HCU R-Fr. Austin, Texas 3.619 Kinesiology – Sport Management
GK Nicole Panis * Lamar Sr. Opmeer, The Netherlands 3.23 Exercise Scince

Second Team

Pos. Name School Class Hometown Major
D Kat Lazor HCU Jr. Missouri City, Texas Psychology
D Hailey Griffin A&M-Commerce So. Trophy Club, Texas General Business
D Mia Salas 2 HCU Jr. San Antonio, Texas Kinesiology
D Payton Adams 2 UIW Sr. Frisco, Texas Rehabilitative Science Pre-Physician Assistant
MF Ryan Ford 2 HCU Sr. Frisco, Texas Marketing
MF Talin Rizo 2 HCU Sr. San Antonio, Texas Business Administration
MF Laura Linares Lamar Sr. Barcelona, Spain University Studies
MF Kiana Kukaua McNeese Jr. Valencia, Calif. Civil Engineering
F Keeley Ayala 3 UIW Gr. Wichita Falls, Texas Communication Arts – Media Studies
F Morgan Westbury A&M-Corpus Christi So. McKinney, Texas Kinesiology
F Rachel Young McNeese Jr. Surprise, Ariz. Biology
F Magalie Depot McNeese Jr. Montreal, Quebec, Canada Biology
GK Jen Peters A&M-Commerce Sr. Allen, Texas Kinesiology & Sport Studies

Soccer Student-Athlete of the Year: Mya Guillory, Southeastern

Photo- Josh Manck

The lions close out the trip to Utah against the Trailblazers.

COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce women’s basketball team closes the trip to Utah on Saturday afternoon against Utah Tech.  

WHO: A&M-Commerce at Utah Tech

WHERE: St. George, Utah| Burns Arena

WHEN: Saturday, December 3 | 2:00 pm MST

RECORDS: The Lions are 1-5 on the season, while the Trailblazers are 4-2.

RANKINGS: The national polls rank either team. 

LIVE AUDIO: Lion Sports Network – KETR 88.9 FM, Commerce | http://www.ketr.org

LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ | https://www.espn.com/search/_/q/texas%20a%26m-commerce/o/watch/appearance/dark

LIVE STATS: https://utahtechtrailblazers.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary

GAME NOTES: TAMUC (PDF) | UT (PDF) 

SCOUTING THE TRAILBLAZERS

 • Utah Tech is 4-2 on the season, with two wins coming over Division I opponents as the Trailblazers are in the third year of their four-year Division I transition.

• The Trailblazers scored 93.0 points per game this season, fifth among Division I programs. Utah Tech is shooting 47.9 percent from the field, which is top 25 in the country.

• Breaunna Gillen is scoring 21.3 points per game, which is 13th in the country, and is shooting 49 percent from the field. 

QUICK GLANCE AT THE LIONS

• A&M-Commerce continues its trip in Utah against the Trailblazers on Saturday, looking

to snap a five-game losing streak.

• Both the Lions and the Trailblazers are in the Division I transition process. They did not face each other as Division II programs.

• The Lions are second in the Southwest, with a scoring average of 67.8. They are also second in rebounding, averaging 43.9 rebounds per game.

• Dyani Robinson scored 23 points against Southern Utah and now leads SLC in scoring. 

BRAND NEW WATERS

• The Lions are in the first season in NCAA Division I and the Southland Conference.

• This is the first time the Lions are changing conferences for the first time in program history. 

Photo – Soouthland Conference

They named Townsend to the Southland All-Academic team.

FRISCO – They named Texas A&M University-Commerce men’s cross country student-athlete Tanner Townsend to the Southland Conference all-academic team on Thursday morning. 

Townsend (Royse City) has earned conference all-academic honors for the second straight season. In addition, the senior is a kinesiology and sports studies major named to the conference’s second team of the ten-runner honor roll. 

Southland Conference All-Academic Teams are voted upon by a head coach, sports information director, and academic/compliance staff member from each school. Student-Athletes of the Year are voted upon by an awards committee which consists of one administrator from each member school. Voting for one’s athletes is not permitted.

To be eligible for all-academic distinction, an athlete must hold a minimum 3.00 cumulative grade point average through the semester before the sport’s championship. In addition, the student must have completed at least one full academic year at the nominating school before the current season and participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s competitions during the most recently completed season. 

At the Southland Conference Championships earlier this fall, Townsend finished second on the team and 20th overall with a time of 25:01.71. The Lions as a team finished sixth at the conference meet, it’s first as a member of the Southland Conference. 

2022 Southland Conference Cross Country All-Academic Teams

Men’s Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Year: Griffin Neal, UIW

Men’s Cross Country All-Academic First Team

Name School Class Hometown GPA Major
Griffin Neal *2 UIW So. Wimberley, Texas 3.59 Business Administration
Dennis Kipngeno *2 A&M-Corpus Christi Sr. Nakuru, Kenya 3.27 Nursing
George Wheeler * Lamar Gr. Milton Keynes, England 3.12 Environmental Studies
Jaden Forester 2 New Orleans So. La Mesa, Calif. 4.00 Computer Science
Eli Peveto Lamar Jr. Orange, Texas 4.00 Computer Science

Men’s Cross Country All-Academic Second Team

Name School Class Hometown GPA Major
Alexandre Fetizon UIW So. Ambonnay, France 4.00 Engineering (Mechanical)
Conor Smith Lamar So. Birmingham, England 4.00 Chemistry
Cade Litolff 2 New Orleans Jr. Metairie, La. 4.00 Chemistry
Randy Canady Nicholls R-Jr. Groesbeck, Texas 3.129 Interdisciplinary Studies
Tanner Townsend A&M-Commerce Sr. Royse City, Texas 4.00 Kinesiology & Sport Studies

Women’s Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Year: Jessica Rabius, HCU

Women’s Cross Country All-Academic First Team

Name School Class Hometown GPA Major
Jessica Rabius 2 HCU Sr. East Bernard, Texas 4.00 Masters in Business Administration
Yasmine Austridge * Lamar Sr. London, England 4.00 Business Administration
Faith Bett * A&M-Corpus Christi Gr. Eldoret, Kenya 3.80 Nursing
Alexandra Weir New Orleans Jr. Toronto, Ontario, Canada 3.63 Sociology
Nia Clatworthy Lamar So. Porthcawl, Wales 3.90 Nutrition

Women’s Cross Country All-Academic Second Team

Name School Class Hometown GPA Major
Sharon Kiprop A&M-Corpus Christi Jr. Iten, Kenya 3.43 Nursing
Elsa Rijpstra 2 Nicholls Sr. Oentsjerk, The Netherlands 4.00 Health Science Pre-Athletic Training
Pamela Kosgei McNeese R-Sr. Eldoret, Kenya 3.39 General Studies and Behavioral Science
Andrea Acuna UIW So. Ft. Worth, Texas 3.32 Psychology
Sorcha Moloney McNeese R-Jr. Abbeyleix, Ireland 3.74 General Studies and Natural Science

* Automatic selection; 2022 First Team All-Conference

Photo – Subeen Jeon

Robinson scores 23 in a loss at Southern Utah. 

CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Southern Utah Thunderbirds downed the Texas A&M University-Commerce women’s basketball team on Thursday afternoon via a score of 71-56 at the America First Event Center. 

The Lions drop to 1-5 on the season, having lost five in a row, while Southern Utah improves to 3-4 on the season, snapping a four-game losing skid. 

Southern Utah jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first 2:33 of the game, forcing the Lions to use an early timeout. However, the Lions recovered with an 18-9 run to close out the first quarter and trailed 23-18 at the end of the first quarter. 

Dyani Robinson (Langham Creek) knocked in a layup at the 8:04 mark of the second quarter to pull the Lions within 23-20, but the Thunderbirds had a 10-4 run to go back up by nine. The Lions trailed 35-26 at the half. 

The Thunderbirds outscored the Lions 23-13 in the third quarter to lead by as much as 23 points. The Lions came to within 13 points on a 12-3 run, but the Thunderbirds did not let the Lions cut into the lead further. 

Robinson finished the game with 23 points for A&M-Commerce. No other Lion scored in double digits. DesiRay Kernal (Newton, Kan.) scored eight points off the bench, making four of her six free-throw attempts. 

Symmone James (McKinney – Boyd) returned to the starting lineup and grabbed eight rebounds and three blocks, while Laila Lawrence (Lewisville) had six points and six rebounds off the bench. In addition, Mia Deck (Frisco – Lone Star) recorded four steals. Jada Hood (Roseville, Minn.) scored six points off the bench, making two three-pointers. 

Samantha Johnston had 19 points for the Thunderbirds, while Lizzy Williamson had a double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds, as well as four shots, blocked.

UP NEXT

The Lions make the short trip to Utah Tech to face the Trailblazers on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 Mountain Standard Time before returning home.