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STEPHENVILLE – Brittnie Haley scored 11 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to record a double-double in her first game back in over a year and half to lead the TexAnns to a 64-38 season-opening victory over Texas-Permian Basin at Wisdom Gym on Tuesday.
The TexAnns go to 1-0 on the young season after earning head coach Ronnie Hearne's seventh consecutive home-opening victory. Tarleton is now 6-1 all-time in season-openers under the seventh year head coach. UTPB fell to 0-1 and are now 0-7 all-time against the TexAnns.
The TexAnns opened the first-half scoring 18 of the game's first 21 points to take an early 18-3 lead. Tara Towns connected on a three-pointer with 5:07 left in the first period to make it a 31-12 lead. Sonya Sundberg's three-pointer with 34 seconds left put the TexAnns on top 38-14 and she then connected on one of two from the charity stripe with 3 seconds left as Tarleton took a 39-14 lead into the locker room.
Tarleton finished the half shooting .467 percent from the field despite only making 4-of-12 (.333) from beyond the arc. The TexAnns managed to turn 19 Falcon turnovers into 24 points in the first-half, while the visiting team managed to only score three points on 11 turnovers from Tarleton.
The game was a lot closer in the second half and Tarleton outscored the Falcons by just one point, 25-24. The TexAnns took their largest lead of the game on Morgan Stehling's three-pointer with 16:13 remaining in the game. Her shot from beyond the arc game Tarleton a 47-18 lead, but UTPB battled back and outscored the TexAnns by three points throughout the remainder of the contest.
Tarleton finished the game shooting .442 percent from the field and .333 percent from downtown. The TexAnn defense proved too much for the Falcons serving up four blocks and 14 steals on the evening. UTPB finished the night with 36 turnovers, but Tarleton had just 10 less – finishing the game with 26. The difference in the game was Tarleton scoring 40 total points off those turnovers compared to the Falcons' 11 points.
Tarleton looked good off the bench on Tuesday as well, scoring 24 points in substitution duty. Towns led the TexAnns off the bench, scoring 13 points while going 3-of-5 from the three-point line. JoAnne Jones added 13 points as well as both players led the game in scoring. Haley led all players on the boards pulling down 13 total rebounds with eight of them coming on the offensive side of the glass. Five TexAnn players in all scored in double figures on the night.
The TexAnns will travel to Denton this weekend to participate in the Texas Woman's Pioneer Premiere Classic. Tarleton will face Pittsburg State at 5 p.m. on Friday and will then play Western New Mexico on Saturday at 2 p.m. to close out the tournament.
