LIONS 2011-2012 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SEASON RECAP
Lions Close Out Rebuilding Season:
The Lions had a rough start early in the season, but after a tough loss to West Texas (Jan. 4th), the Lion's freshmen came together under the wing of sophomore forward Breanna Harris and sophomore guard Danielle Dixon, who led the Lions statistically all season. Harris dominated for the Lions with ten double-doubles, while notching 221 rebounds. Harris fell 8 points short of being the leading scorer to Danielle Dixon.
Sophomore guard Danielle Dixon returned for her second season with the Lions and had a big break out season when she became the leading scorer for the Lions with 315 points, averaging 12.8 points per game. Dixon not only dropped points for the Lions but she also led the team with 63 assists and 23 three pointers.
A&M-Commerce was a freshman dominated team as they were attempting to rebuild the team, and the freshmen recruits made huge strides by the end of the season. Freshman guard Michelle Sutton started 19 games for the Lions and led the freshmen with 19.4 minutes per game, while averaging 4.3 points per game. Freshman guard Devin Oliver mimicked the performance with an impressive 4.6 points per game in 25 games.
Lions say Farewell to Apreia Booker:
#45 – Apreia Booker's Career Statistics: Apreia Booker was the sole Lion's senior of the 2011-12 season. Booker started 10 games for the Lions and saw significant action in all 26 games. Booker was a key for the Lions success as she came in second with field goal percentage, right behind Breanna Harris at 48.0%. December 13th marked the turning point for Booker when she had her highest single scoring game as she dropped 17 points against Texas Woman's. Not only did Booker hit her career high this season, she also tied her career high in rebounds four different times with 6 rebounds.
Statistics:
Points: 254
Rebounds: 158
Assists: 19
Blocks: 8
Steals: 15
Games Played: 52
Highlight Wins for the Lions:
73-66 – Central Ohio State (Nov. 26): Central Ohio State was the first non-conference win for the Lions and marked the first of ten double-doubles for Breanna Harris. Harris notched 13 points and 12 rebounds following a strong 16 point performance by Danielle Dixon. The Lions dominated the Mauraders with 5 players scoring in the double digits. The Marauders couldn't come close to the Lions, as the Lions offense put Central Ohio State in a 6 point hole at half time (32-26). Danielle Dixon refused to let the Lions be beat; she came out in the second half dropping 10 points. Sophomore forward Bianca Stevenson came off the bench for the Lions dropping 7 points in the second half, sealing her first big performance of the year. The Marauders made a push late in the second half, but Harris knocked down 3 points in the last minute of the game closing out the first win of the season for the Lions (73-66)
64-61 - Angelo State (Feb. 25): In a thrilling season finale, the Lions pulled off a last minute 3 pointer to break their unbelievable 45 conference game losing streak. Breanna Harris tore the Angelo State defense apart; she posted another big double-double and ensured Apreia Booker that she would be able to celebrate a win on her final game for the Lions on Senior Night. Harris dropped 19 points on Angelo State along with snatching 10 rebounds for her tenth and final double-double of the season. Apreia Booker would fittingly feed the ball to Dixon, giving her the final assist of the game as time expired. The Lions would walk away with their second win of the season as the game would end 64-61 and A&M-Commerce would get their first win in almost 3 months.
Breanna Harris Closes Out Massive First Season for the Lions:
Sophomore Breanna Harris has been a key contributor throughout the season for A&M-Commerce, ranking second on the team in points per game (12.1) while leading the Lions in rebounds per game (8.8). Harris earned her first double-double against Central Ohio State (Nov. 26) when she scored 13 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and never looked back. She notched double-doubles against Incarnate Word (Dec. 7) and at Texas Woman's (Dec. 13), against Newman State (Dec. 29), Eastern New Mexico (Jan. 7), and when the Lions hosted Angelo State (Jan. 14). Harris broke her career high in points (17), when she scored 20 points and snagged 10 rebounds in her seventh double-double against the undefeated Tarleton TexAnns on (Jan. 18.). Harris had a dominating eighth double-double against Cameron on Saturday, where she tied her season high of 17 rebounds and dropped 19 points against the Aggies. Harris notched her ninth double-double this past week against A&M-Kingsville with 12 rebounds and 15 points in her first game against the Javelinas. Harris was the bright spot of the Lions season with ten double-doubles.
Standout Lion Freshman:
A&M-Commerce had three promising freshmen who were key components to the Lions success this season. La'Tisha Hearne, Michelle Sutton, and Devin Oliver helped the Lions reach success this season in the positions of guard and forward.
Forward - La'Tisha Hearne: Hearne had a successful first season with the Lions starting 11 games and saw action in all 26. She finished third on the team in points (133) and also was a defensive machine for the Lions, topping the team in steals with 30. Hearne sat second on the team only to Breanna Harris with 110 rebounds. Hearne ended her season averaging 7.2 points per game in her final 9 games and ended the season averaging 5.1 points per game.
Guard - Michelle Sutton: Sutton worked her way into the starting five as she finished out her season starting 18 games as a true freshman. Her break out performance came in an 11 point performance against Texas A&M-International (Dec. 13) when she knocked down 3 three pointers. Sutton averaged 4.5 points per game, knocking down 112 points in her first season with the Lions.
Guard - Devin Oliver: Oliver showed amazing promise for the Lions as she opened up her collegiate career with a 13 point performance against Southeastern Oklahoma (Nov. 15). She started 7 games for the Lions and saw action in 23 games in her first season for A&M-Commerce. In the opening four games, Oliver averaged 10.75 points per game. Oliver had her biggest performance against Ouachita Baptist when she led the team in scoring with 17 points
