OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 27, 2020) – There's a good reason Texas A&M-Commerce was undefeated until last week – the Lions are big, strong, quick and deep.

Oklahoma Christian needed to play a near-perfect game Thursday to have a shot against the Lions, who entered ranked fourth in one NCAA Division II women's basketball poll and sixth in the other, but the Lady Eagles shot just 33.9 percent from the field and eventually fell 72-56 in the Eagles' Nest.

TAMUC (26-1, 20-1 Lone Star Conference) clinched the regular-season LSC title. OC (7-18, 7-14) dropped into 13th place in the league, one spot below the cut line to make the conference tournament. To qualify, OC must beat Texas-Tyler (3-22, 1-20) on Saturday in the regular-season finale and hope Angelo State (Texas) wins at Texas-Permian Basin and Texas A&M International downs visiting Texas Woman's, which currently is in 12th place.

TAMUC outrebounded OC 55-31 and had two players record double-doubles – Alexis Bryant (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Juliana Louis (11 points, 10 rebounds) – and nearly a third, as DesiRay Kernal had 10 points and eight rebounds. About the only downer for the Lions was that they committed 22 turnovers.

OC had a few bright spots – Maddison Collyer scored 12 points and had a career-high seven steals, Carolyne Lawley added 12 points and Katie Mayo had 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots – but it mostly was an uphill slog for the Lady Eagles.

"We played hard but we didn't make enough shots in the first half," OC coach Stephanie Findley said. "We forced them into 22 turnovers. That's good for us, against that team, which is way bigger than we are. They killed us on the boards. They were just bigger, stronger, pushing us out of the way and getting the ball."

The Lions jumped to a 13-2 lead midway through the first quarter and led 23-14 at quarter's end. TAMUC was up 45-26 at halftime and 48-26 early in the second half before OC began chipping away. A driving layup by Tyra Peck pulled the Lady Eagles within 50-37 with 3:42 left in the third quarter.

But that was as close as OC came. The Lions held a 60-40 lead entering the fourth quarter and led by as many as 24 points before a late 11-2 run by OC made the final score more respectable. The Lady Eagles outscored TAMUC 30-27 in the second half.

"I appreciated the effort," Findley said. "They were playing their starters the whole time. We just didn't hit enough shots the first half to keep ourselves close. Saturday is up next. We'll play the game and see what happens."

For the first time in five seasons, the Lady Eagles wore their pink uniforms, both as part of the annual Play4Kay initiative conducted by the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and in honor of the late Darci Thompson, OC's director of fitness and wellness, who died Feb. 14 after a long battle with cancer.