The Texas A&M University-Commerce women’s basketball team opened its season Saturday afternoon in an exhibition game against TCU. The Lady Lions played TCU close for most of the contest but fell short of a victory 84-60 to the Horned Frogs.

The Lions had three players finish in double figures. Princess Davis led the way with 12 points and Krystal Pickron  and Brianna Wise both chipped in 10 points. The lions led after the first quarter 20-14, but a hot start by TCU to start the second quarter helped push the horned frogs past the lions at the half 42-37.

The Lions starting guard and team captain Princess Davis left the game right before the half with a knee injury. Turnovers and missed free throws allowed TCU to increase its lead in the third and fourth quarter.

“I think our girls competed hard. We just had too many turnovers down the stretch in key moments of the game, and I think we could have defended in transition and in the half court better. Those are some things we’ll have to work on this week at practice before our next game,”  Head Coach Jason Burton said.

“Princess Davis being out the second half really hurt our defense because she sets the tone for our defense with her great pressure and we really needed that in the second half down the home stretch,” he added.

Princess Davis had this to say when asked her thoughts on the team’s performance. “ I thought we played hard we handled their pressure well in the first quarter but in the second half they forced us into some bad turnovers, but I think we can learn from this game and get better.”

The good thing about this exhibition game is that it does not count toward either team’s record, and the Lions get a chance to play a game that counts and get a win to kick off their season this upcoming week.

The Lions begin to prepare to hit the road for its next couple of games in Denver, Colorado against Colorado State-Pueblo on Friday and Metro State on Saturday.