LAKE CHARLES, La. – In a battle to advance to the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament, the University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team fell in a tight game, 65-62, against the University of Texas A&M – Commerce to end the 2022-23 season on Monday afternoon.
 
"While we're obviously disappointed that we didn't come away with the win, there is certainly no reason for us to hang our head," said head coach Jeff Dow. "We kept competing until the end and cut the deficit to one point in the final minute.  A lot of credit has to go to A&M Commerce for how well they played and for going 12-14 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter when we were forced to foul. Defensively our major points of emphasis were to try to limit their points in the paint and keep them off of the O boards.  The disparity in points in the paint (34-26) and rebounding margin (-9) put a lot of stress on our offense, and unfortunately, we didn't get hot until the fourth quarter."
 
Nina De Leon Negron and Jorja Elliott finished with 19 apiece to lead the Cardinals. De Leon Negron and Destiny Terrell added six rebounds.
 
"It was just another all-around, unbelievable performance by Nina.  Nineteen points on only ten shot attempts, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals in her first Southland Conference tournament game certainly speaks to how well she played.  It was great to see one of our freshmen wings, Jorja Elliott, get hot and contribute 19 points as well.  Over the course of our 6-game winning streak that we had to close the season, we routinely had four or five players in double figures, and unfortunately, we didn't have that kind of balance today.  But again, credit Coach Burton and the Commerce defense for slowing us down offensively."
 
The Cardinals and Lions finished the first quarter tied at 15 with nine of UIW's points coming from beyond the 3-point line.
 
UIW hit a scoring drought in the second only scoring six points in the quarter, but Myra Bell put the Cardinals on the board scoring off a Lion turnover. Although UIW wasn't finding the bottom of the net early, the Cardinals' defense held commerce to 40 percent from the field. At the end of the first half, the Lions held s 27-21 advantage.
 
The Cardinals found themselves down 10 points in the third but were only outscored by the Lions, 19-16 to head into the fourth down nine (46-37).
 
Elliott was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left in the game. The freshman stepped to the line and sank all three to bring the Cardinals within two (59-57). The Lions battled to ward off the Cardinals, but Bell nailed a three, making it a one-point game with 16 seconds to go. UIW had a look down the stretch, but the shot did not fall as Texas A&M – Commerce took the game, 65-62 to advance to the semifinals.  
 
"We're certainly proud of what we accomplished over the course of the season.  We had a lot of 'firsts'  for the program since the transition to Division I, in terms of the overall winning season, beating UTSA for the second time in three years, the 6-game winning streak, and earning the 4-seed in the conference tournament. I was joking with one of the officials in the second half to take it easy on us because we had four freshmen on the court playing together at the same time.  With no seniors on this year's roster and the development and improvement that so many of these young players made this season, it's exciting to see what our future holds."
 
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