St. Joseph, Mo.

Texas A&M-Commerce held on for an 81-77 win over Emporia State in the first round of the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Regional at the Missouri Western State University Field House.

Texas A&M-Commerce was making its initial appearance in NCAA regional action; meanwhile Emporia State was making their 10th NCAA Regional appearance. However, the Lions showed no signs of nerves as they came out of the gates, making their first three shots from the field.

The Lady Hornets built up a 15-10 advantage over the first 4:34 of the contest as Michelle Stueve for Emporia State scored seven of the first nine points en route to 18 first half points for the Lady Hornets. The Lions rallied back with a 13-2 run to take a 23-17 lead when Marshal made the first of five three pointers.

Texas A&M-Commerce (26-8) senior Kanani Marshal scored a team-high 27 points, including five three pointers to give her 137 for the 2006-07 season. She is now one three pointer away from tying the NCAA Division II single-season record of 138. She was five-for-eight from beyond the arc and six-for-eight from the free throw line in the win. She was joined in double figures by sophomore Britney Jordan, who scored 21 points and senior Dawn Montgomery added 12 points. The Lions defense forced 20 Emporia State turnovers in the win and Montgomery came up with a game-high and season-high four steals.

Emporia State (22-8) got a game-high from 33 points and 14 rebounds from Michelle Stueve, in addition, they got 14 points off the bench from Carolyn Dorsey. The Lady Hornets out rebounded the Lions, 43-34.

A three pointer by Tegan Stuart of Emporia State put the Lady Hornets in front 37-35 to start the second half. They held the lead for a brief moment as Montgomery hit a jumper to tie the contest at 37 with 19:30 left in the contest. Back-to-back baskets by Jordan and Marshal put the Lions ahead by four with 18:36 left and they would not surrender the lead for the rest of the contest.

The Lions advance to the second round and face the No. 1 seed and host Missouri Western State University and No. 8 seed Montana State-Billings at 8:00 pm. All the action can be heard on the Lions Radio Network (KGVL-1400 AM; KIKT-93.5 FM) and online at www.lionathletics.com(.)