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STEPHENVILLE - The Tarleton TexAnns held No. 19-ranked Central Oklahoma to just .224 percent shooting from the field and opened Lone Star Conference crossover action with an 85-55 upset victory over the visiting Bronchos at Wisdom Gym on Tuesday.

Tarleton improved to 6-0 on the season, matching the best start for a TexAnn team under head coach Ronnie Hearne.  The Bronchos fell to 3-2 on the season with the loss.

The TexAnns opened the game with a pair of three-pointers from Sonya Sundberg and Tori Skarke to take an early 6-0 lead.  Tarleton extended their lead to 11-0 a few minutes later and held the Bronchos without a basket until the 16:41 mark when Jordan Stark sank a jumper to make it 11-2.

Tarleton increased their lead to 11 points with another three-pointer from Sundberg, but that lead dwindled down to three points as UCO followed the basket up with a 9-1 run to make it a 15-12 game in favor of the TexAnns with 9:37 left in the period. 

Tarleton pushed the lead back to eight points with a pair of free throws from Skarke at 7:57, then JoAnne Jones connected on a lay-up with 6:01 remaining to make it a nine point lead, up 26-17. 

UCO pulled back to within five points at the 4:14 mark when Alyssa Fuxa made both her free throws, but Tarleton finished the first-half with a 7-2 run and took a 10-point lead into the locker room, up 35-25 at the break.

Tarleton looked dominant at times in the first half, but too many turnovers (15) by the TexAnns along with an .833 free throw percentage by the Bronchos kept UCO in the game - despite UCO's many failed attempts from the field (7-25, .280)

Tarleton put the game away early in the second period, opening the second-half with a 17-3 run to take a commanding 52-28 lead.  The Bronchos recovered over the next four and a half minutes, outscoring the TexAnns 10-2 to pull within 16 points, but that would be as close as they would come as Tarleton eased their way to a 30-point win over the 19th ranked team in the country. 

It was the first win for the TexAnns over the Bronchos in the last four tries.  Two of the previous four losses came in the first round of the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament. 

"That is a good team that we beat tonight," Hearne said.  "They were ranked No. 12 to start the season and they were picked to win the north division.  They are going to get better as the year goes on.  We know that we need to get better as well."

Skarke led the TexAnns with 17 points on the night after going 6-for-14 from the field.  Sundberg went 3-for-6 from beyond the arc and finished with 12 points on the night.

Shelby Adamson scored just seven points on the evening but made the difference up on the defensive side of the ball, collecting a team-high eight defensive rebounds and finished the game with nine total.  Kelsey Benford had nine rebounds as well coming off the bench for the TexAnns.

Ashley Beckley, Stark and Fuxa eached scored 10 points to lead the Bronchos on the night.  Jill Bryan led UCO with seven boards. 

Tarleton will return to action this Thursday, Dec. 3, when the TexAnns host Northeastern State.  Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. inside Wisdom Gym.