COMMERCE, Texas -- In their first game of the season, the Texas A&M International women's basketball team picked up the school's first victory over a ranked team, leading by as many as 28 at No. 10 Midwestern State.

Their second game, however, was considerably more difficult.

Facing Texas A&M-Commerce on Thursday, Dustdevils forward Samantha Chacon hit a game-winning layup with under one second remaining for an 81-79 victory. With the win, TAMIU has won its first two games of the season

for the first time in program history.

"TAMIU women's basketball obviously has not had a lot of success in the past," Dustdevils head coach Michelle Bento-Jackson said. "Games like tonight are very difficult and we did not overcome a lot of these situations last year. We are not happy with today but we did finish the game off. That in itself shows the growth in our team."

With the game tied at 79, TAMIU had the ball with 31 seconds left. Chacon missed a jumper with 10 seconds remaining but junior guard Alexis Thomas grabbed the rebound as Chacon took advantage of her second chance and gave the Dustdevils the victory. Commerce fell to 0-4 with the loss.

Chacon scored 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting and also led the team for the second straight game in assists with four. Thomas' rebound was one of her eight on the day after recording 10 in the opener.

"It shows the growth of our team and in Sam," Bento-Jackson said. "She showed the willingness for her to want to take over in that situation."

TAMIU led by as many as 13 in the first half as it took a 46-33 lead into the break. Commerce, however, rebounded in the second half outscoring the Dustdevils 46-35 in the period.

Both teams shot well as the Dustdevils made 30 of their 60 shots from the field while the Lions shot just under 44 percent (34 of 78). TAMIU did a lot of damage at the line where it made 16 of its 28 attempts. They were also outrebounded 45-41.

"Obviously we played a better basketball game on Tuesday (against Midwestern State) than we did Thursday," Bento-Jackson said. "I told the girls that the expectations are higher and the bar is getting raised on them. There is a certain way we want TAMIU women's basketball to be played and we didn't necessarily play that way for 40 minutes which was disappointing. We have some areas we have to improve upon from next week, that's for sure."

Senior center Malika Jackson had her best game of the season with a team-high 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting. She also grabbed 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the year. Guard Tina Dang scored 19 points with three assists, hitting three triples for the second consecutive game.

Thomas also scored seven points while junior point guard Re'Nikia Meshack had seven points, four rebounds and three assists.

Overall, TAMIU's five returners combined for 75 of the team's 81 points. The Dustdevils had five others enter the game and score a combined six points in 47 minutes.

"With the senior leadership and players that have been in these situations they know what is expected of them in crunch time," Bento-Jackson said. "The new players each game is a learning experience for them. We have got to get a couple of them to contribute more and tonight wasn't the best for a couple of them but they need to

learn from this because we feel that we have a deep bench and a special team."

The Dustdevils will now get ready for their Laredo debut when the team begins

a four-game homestand on Nov. 18 against Eastern New Mexico (0-3) at 7 p.m.

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