Note: I have written a lot about historic teams and their seasons, but this one was special to Me because I actually got experience it as a student, going to these games, seeing the school rally around this team, and getting to watch someone I had known of since my days of growing up in Tyler, Brittany Jones, became a full fledged star. This is one is for one of the best teams in all of our University’s history.

Ever since East Texas State started fielding a Woman’s Basketball program in 1971, there had not been much done to speak of for the first 35 years. There had been 2 winning seasons before Denny Downing arrived in Commerce, and absolutely nothing to speak of note. No Division titles, no conference titles, no conference tournament titles, and no invitations to the NCAA tournament. Women’s hoops you could say was dead in Commerce, America, but then again it had never truly lived.

Then, the 2006-07 season came, and changed everything about Lion Women’s Basketball culture. One would have thought that through the first 11 games not much had changed as the Lions started the year 5-6 with one of those losses being to West Texas A&M, coached by Krista Gerlich, the current head coach at Texas Tech who created a machine in Canyon that few in the Lone Star Conference could match, if any at all. However, the Lions program had improved and Lion Head Coach Denny Downing, who had started to turn the Lion Women program around and there was a feeling that winning seasons were at least a possibility, however getting past WT seemed far fetched, or it did at least at the time.

After a 9 point loss to Gerlich’s Lady Buffs squad, something sparked the Lion Women to something they had never done before and would amass a 23-2 record from December through to March. For the first time, the Lion Women were drawing massive crowds from both the school and the community. The Fill The Fieldhouse Game against Northeastern State on February 10th had a standing room only crowd to see the Lion Women avenge an earlier loss in the year and take full possession of the Lone Star Conference North Division. For the first time in program history, it looked like a Championship of some kind was going to be won by the Lion Women’s Basketball team. It was, the Lion Women clinched the LSC North Division title by blowing out Southwestern Oklahoma at home. It also clinched the regular season Championship and with that, gave Commerce the venue for the Lone Star Conference Championships to be played at for the first time in program history.

In the first round of the LSC tournament, the Lion women dropped Tarleton State 97-77, setting them up with a rematch against the Rambelles of Angelo State. Earlier in the year, the Lions had dropped a 57-56 game at San Angelo. This game was just as tough, but the Lions showed they were the better team then and overall as they knocked out the Rambelles, 65-59.

Then came the biggest showdown of the year. For all the marbles. It was West Texas vs East Texas. North Division Champion Vs. South Division Champion. David vs. Goliath. The favorite vs the Cinderalla. In the Lone Star Conference Championship Game, it was West Texas A&M’s Lady Buffs versus The Host Lions. The Lion women’s speed and athleticism to go along with their hot shooting proved to be too much for Gerlich and her Lady Buff team to overcome. The Lion Women defeated the Lady Buffs 81-71, clinching their first tournament Championship and leaving no doubt as to who the best Women’s Basketball team in the Lone Star Conference was. The nets came down as hundreds of blue and gold clad fans celebrated the win while many of the maroon clad Buff fans left the University Fieldhouse stunned that their Lady Buffs had been dropped by someone in their own conference. The next day was selection Sunday. The Lions clinched a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history, but what would it look like?

The Lion women drew the 4th seed in the D2 South Central Regional Championships that would be held at Missouri Western State University Fieldhouse in St. Joseph, Missouri. Whoever won this tournament would advance to the NCAA Elite 8.

In the first NCAA tournament game in program history, Downing had his team ready to play as they downed a tough Emporia State team 81-77, setting them up with the top seeded team in the region, host Missouri Western. For 4 quarters both teams battled back and forth and it would come down to the very last second, but the Lion women were able to take a 1 point lead and hold off the host squad with a 73-72 win, putting them in the Sweet 16 and setting them up for a chance to win the Regional Championships. The Lion women hoped and expected to face West Texas A&M again, but the Lady Buffs were defeated in semifinals by Washburn 54-39.

In the biggest game in school history, the Lion women faced off against a Washburn team they had never played and both teams played to a stalemate until the final minute when, much like so many big games before, the Lion women took a one point lead and did just enough to hold off the Lady Blues 71-70 to give them the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championship and a berth in the Division II Elite 8.

On March 21, 2007, the Lion Women faced off against Clayton State, a known Women’s powerhouse program in Kearney, Nebraska in the venue where the National Championship would be played. In yet another close game, the Lakers of Clayton State shot the ball exceptionally well to counter the Lion’s athletic abilities and speed and in a heartbreaking 5 point loss, ended their season with a 60-55 defeat against CSU. Clayton State would lose in the Semifinals to Florida Gulf Coast, and the Southern Connecticut Lady Owls would be the team to take it all as they defeated Florida Gulf Coast, easing their way through the bracket of the Elite 8 with no real challenges.

For the Lion Women, this was the best season in program history. That might not be true if the 2020 season had not ended due to the COVID pandemic, however the accomplishments of this team are quite incredible and something to truly be proud of.

28-9 Record-

15-1 record at The University Fieldhouse

Lone Star Conference North Division Champions

Lone Star Conference Regular Season Conference Champions

Lone Star Conference Conference Tournament Champions

NCAA South Central Regional Champions

NCAA Elite 8

Player/Coach Awards-

Kanani Marshal (Daktronics Third Team All-American, Daktronics First Team All-Region, NCAA Division II Tournament All-Region, LSC Player of the Year, First Team All-LSC, LSC Tournament Team)

Britney Jordan (Daktronics Second Team All-Region, NCAA Division II All-Region MVP, LSC Newcomer of the Year, First Team All-LSC, LSC Tournament MVP, NCAA Division II Tournament All-Region)

Dominee Evans (LSC All-Tournament)

Denny Downing (LSC Coach of the Year)

Downing would have a fantastic time in Commerce that saw the turnaround of Lion Women’s Basketball. After having losing seasons in his first 3 seasons, his final 4 seasons were all winning seasons and he went 81-42, never finishing worse than 3rd place in the Lone Star Conference. Downing then left to take the Head Job at Texas-Pan American (Now Texas-Rio Grande Valley) where he once again took a program that was in the dumps and turned them around. In his first four seasons at the helm of the Broncs, Downing presided over the winningest four-year stretch in program history at 51-68 (.429), including a 32-15 home record and a 21-21 Great West Conference record. He was succeeded by Nicole Anderson in Commerce, however her tenure was a huge regression back to the prior years, despite her being named Coach of The Year in 2012-2013. Anderson resigned at the end of the 2013-14 season, making way for Jason Burton to come to Commerce and put Women Basketball back on the map with tournament appearances in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, and LSC Championships in 2020 and 2021, leading the program into the Division I era, where after one season, he was called to North Texas, opening the door for current Coach Valerie King to take the Lion Women places in this Division I era.