ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita Baptist University women's basketball team opened the 2021-22 season with a near-upset of 10th-ranked Texas A&M-Commerce at home on Friday night, eventually falling to the Lions by a final score of 69-67.

The Tigers (0-1) started the game on fire offensively, building a double-digit lead over the Lions (3-0) midway through the first period. A&M-Commerce rallied to trim its deficit to five, but the Tigers closed out the period on a 10-1 run to lead by 15 going into the second.

Ouachita built its biggest lead the game at 16 early in the second period, but the stanza belonged to the Lions, outscoring Ouachita 21-11 throughout the 10 minutes to cut the Tiger lead down to five points at halftime, 37-32.

The third period went back-and-forth with the Lions forcing a 42-all tie at the 4:03 mark, the first tie since the opening tip. A three-pointer from Makenzie Schilmoeller with 1:35 remaining the in third sparked a Tiger run that put Ouachita up by four. Ouachita ended the third with a three-point lead of 51-48.

The Lions took advantage of offensive rebounds with second-chance points in route to outscoring Ouachita 21-16 in the final 10 minutes. The Tigers kept it close, and never allowed the Lions to lead by more than three.

Aspen Thornton led all scorers in her Tiger debut with 24 points, while also coming up with a team-high eight rebounds and four steals in 34 minutes of action. Makayla Miller added 14 points. Laney Mears scored 11 points in 26 minutes off the bench.

The Tigers are back in action on Tuesday, November 23 at home against Champion Christian. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at Bill Vining Arena.