STEPHENVILLE - The Tarleton women's basketball team will host Northeastern State at Wisdom Gym on Thursday with a chance to improve their overall record to 7-0 for the first time since 1982-83.

Tarleton has began the season with a 6-0 overall record for just the the fourth time in school history. The 2006-07 squad under head coach Ronnie Hearne won its first six games before falling to Incarnate Word. Prior to that, the last team to begin the season 6-0 was the 1984-85 team that finished 21-8. Tarleton won their first eight games of the 1982-83 season and that 8-0 start is still the best start to a season in school history.

The TexAnns are coming off an impressive 85-55 upset win over No. 19-ranked Central Oklahoma.  Tarleton took a 10-point lead into the locker room at halftime and cruised their way to the 30-point win after shooting .531 percent from the field in the second-half.  It was Tarleton's first win over a nationally ranked team since the TexAnns defeated then No. 18 West Texas A&M, 55-50, back on Jan. 28, 2006.

NSU comes into Thursday's contest with a 6-2 record after defeating Midwestern State 56-51 in Wichita Falls on Tuesday.  The RiverHawks opened the season with a 67-66 loss to No. 21 Gannon at the Disney East Coast Classic in Orlando, Fla., but then concluded the tournament with a pair of wins over North Alabama (78-39) and Shippensburg (61-60).  NSU's only other defeat of the season came against St. Mary's (60-56) in San Antonio.  Since that loss, the RiverHawks have won three straight.

Tarleton is just 4-8 all-time against NSU and have lost the last three games to the RiverHawks.  Tarleton's last win over NSU came back on Feb. 10, 2005, with a 52-49 victory in Stephenville.  Tarleton is just 2-5 against NSU under Hearne.

Both teams are atop the Lone Star Conference rankings in scoring defense.  Tarleton leads the conference allowing opponents to just 44.3 points per game.  NSU is second allowing 54.6 points a contest.  The TexAnns are shooting .517 percent from the field compared to NSU's .451 field goal percentage.  Tarleton leads the LSC in steals, averaging 12.6 steals per game.  The RiverHawks meanwhile rank 11th with an 8.0 takeaways per game average.

JoAnne Jones heads into Thursday's game leading the TexAnns with 12.2 points per game.  Tori Skarke follows with a 10.8 points per game average.  Jones and Brittnie Haley are tied for the team lead with nine blocks each.  Sonya Sundberg leads the team with 26 assists and 13 steals on the season.  The third-year point guard is shooting an impressive .600 percent (12-20) from the three-point line as well.

Jasmine Webb leads NSU with a 12.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game average.  Alix Perkins leads her squad with 22 assists and nine steals.

Tip-off inside Wisdom Gym on Thursday is set for 6 p.m.  The game will be broadcast on 93.1 FM KSTV where fans can listen online.  Fans can also watch the game LIVE via TarletonSports.com and/or watch live stats.