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STEPHENVILLE - The Tarleton TexAnns look to bounce back following their first loss of the season, a 72-68 defeat to No. 25 Southeastern Oklahoma, on Saturday, Dec. 19 when it hosts Southwestern Oklahoma (0-9) at 5 p.m. in Wisdom Gym. The game marks the first of a three-game home stand for the TexAnns, but will be one of two games left in 2009.
The match-up will be broadcast live on KSTV (93.1 FM) in Stephenville. Play-by-play announcer Lucas Vane will have the call for all TexAnns home games. Fans can also listen to the action live via the Tarleton Athletics Radio Network by logging onto the KSTV web site. The video and audio streams of the broadcast will be available on TarletonSports.com as part of Tarleton All-Access.
ABOUT THE TEXANNS
Tarleton enters Saturday's game with an 8-1 overall record after falling to the Savage Storm at Bloomer Sullivan Arena in Durant, Okla. on Monday. Tarleton came close to remaining undefeated and opening the season at 9-0, which would have been the best start in the school's history. Instead, the TexAnns tied the best opening-start to a season going 8-0 just as the 1982-83 team did.
The TexAnns shot .382 percent from the field as a whole on Monday, more than 100 points down from the .495 percentage they went into the contest with. Tarleton shot just .364 percent in the first-half, making just 12-of-33. While Tarleton shot marginally better in the second-half (.409, 9-of-22), the TexAnns went without a field goal for over six minutes. The TexAnns were up 56-51 with JoAnne Jones' lay-up at the 9:40 mark. Tarleton's next field goal came with 3:29 left to play when Brittnie Haley made a lay-up to tie the score 62-62.
Tarleton made just one more field goal in the final three minutes of play when Sonya Sundberg's jumper with :05 seconds left in the game made it a 70-68 game. The TexAnns were forced to foul and SOSU's Kacey Russell made both shots from the charity stripe and the Savage Storm came away with the four-point victory, 72-68.
SOSU improved to 9-0 on the early season and stands as the only Lone Star Conference team left with a perfect record.
Haley led the team with 18 points, scoring all of her points in the second-half and 14 of them coming from the foul line. The junior forward missed her one and only free throw attempt in the first half before making 14 consecutive shots in the final period.
JoAnne Jones followed with 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Shelby Adamson led with four assists and two steals. Tori Skarke made two of Tarleton's four three-point field goals, going 2-of-5 from downtown.
TARLETON AMONG THE NATION'S ELITE
Coach Ronnie Hearne's squad is well represented in the latest NCAA national statistics released on Monday. The TexAnns led the nation in scoring defense (46.1) and field goal percentage defense (.304). Tarleton ranked second in scoring margin (+33.5), eighth in field goal percentage (.495), 12th in blocks (5.3) and 27th in assists (18.1).
Several players are included in the latest individual national rankings. Jones was 11th in field-goal percentage (.597) going into Monday's game, but with her 7-of-9 performance at SOSU, she is now shooting an impressive .618 from the floor. She ranks 53rd averaging 1.6 blocks a game. Junior guard Sonya Sundberg ranks 51st overall with a 4.8 assists per game average and is 19th in assist to turnover ratio (2.53).
AROUND THE LSC
In addition to ranking in the top 15 nationally in field goal percentage, Jones leads the LSC with her .618 shooting percentage. SOSU's Kacey Russell is next, shooting .593 from the field. Jones ranks 22nd in points (11.6) and teammate Brittnie Haley is right behind her 23rd (11.4). Abilene Christian's Jamie Meyer leads the league (21.7). Haley ranks ninth in rebounds (6.7) and Jones is behind her in 10th (6.6). Meyer's sister, Jody, is tops in the LSC (11.6). Haley is eighth in the LSC in free throw percentage (.808). Sonya Sundberg ranks second in three-point percentage (.591), fourth in assists (4.4) and eighth in steals (2.1).
STEHLING ON TOP
Sophomore Morgan Stehling has provided some offense off the bench recently. Stehling is averaging 9.8 points a game on the season and has reached double figures in six of the nine games she's played in, including scoring a career-best 16 points versus Concordia. Stehling scored an impressive 11 points in just 11 minutes in Tarleton's upset victory over then No. 19 Central Oklahoma back on Dec. 1, and was named the LSC South Divsion's Offensive Player of the Week on Dec. 7.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Southwestern Oklahoma enters Saturday's contest with an 0-9 record and is coming off a 73-70 loss to Eastern New Mexico in Portales, N.M. on Monday. The Bulldogs led the Zias 38-27 at the break, but were then outsocred 46-32 in the second-half. Holly Jennings led the way for SWOSU with 18 points on the night, but the Bulldogs defense allowed ENMU's Cat Clay (22) and Til-Lois Fifer (21) to score more than 40 points between them. The Bulldogs remain the only team in the LSC without a win.
Ashley Rush is SWOSU's leading scorer, averaging 10.9 points per game while only having started one contest on the season. Chelsey Dillion (10.7 ppg), Natasha Brown (10.2 ppg) and Courtney Harper (10.1 ppg) are also averaging double figures in the scoring department for the Bulldogs. Jenna Sprague is the squad's top rebounder, pulling down 5.6 boards a game. Brown leads the team with 22 assists and a league-high 32 steals.
As a team, SWOSU is shooting .403 from the field and allowing opponents to a .480 field goal percentage. The Bulldogs make .359 percent of their shots from beyond the arc and .661 percent of the shots from the charity stripe.
Kelsi Bond is in her first season as the head coach at Southwestern Oklahoma. Before taking over as the leader of the Bulldogs, Bond spent five seasons at Fresno State. Bond spent the 2008-09 season as an assistant coach after being promoted. She was the director of basketball operations for four seasons total with a two-year stint as the head coach at Canton High School in Canton, Okla., in between that time.
Bond played collegiately at Cameron where she was a four-year starter for the Aggies from 1998-2002 at point guard. She set school records in career three-point average and assists while remaining a President's Leadership scholar at the school. Her final season in 2001-02, the Aggies set a school record for most wins (25) and made their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II National Tournament.
THE SERIES
Saturday's game will be the 22nd meeting between the TexAnns and the Bulldogs. Southwestern Oklahoma leads the series 13-8, but has dropped the last two meetings to the TexAnns. Tarleton won last season's contest, 70-40, at Rankin Williams Field House in Weatherford, Okla.
Tarleton is just 5-7 all-time when playing the Bulldogs inside Wisdom Gym and have won just one of the last three games in Stephenville.
Head coach Ronnie Hearne is 5-3 all-time against the Bulldogs.
