Box Score
STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton TexAnns outscored Northeastern State 18-4 over the final 8:47 of play, on their way to a 56-42 win over the RiverHawks at Wisdom Gym on Thursday.
The TexAnns remained perfect on the season and improved to 7-0 for the first time since 1982-83. NSU dropped to 6-3 with the loss. The 7-0 start is the best start for any team under head coach Ronnie Hearne as well. The 2006-07 squad went 6-0 before dropping their first game.
Neither team exactly lit-up the scoreboard over the first 10 minutes of play. Morgan Stehling's jumper from the wing with 9:39 left in the first-half made it a 9-6 game with NSU on top. The offense finally came around for the TexAnns after finding themselves down 12-8 and then 15-11, Tarleton tied the game at 15-15 on Sonya Sundberg's lay-up with 4:36 left in the period.
The TexAnns took a brief two-point lead with 1:26 remaining on Stehling's lay-up, but a pair of three-pointers from Sarah Millar and Alix Perkins put the RiverHawks back on top 24-20. Sundberg's three-point attempt at the buzzer was no good and NSU took the four-point lead into the locker room.
The TexAnns shot just .348 percent from the field in the first-half, while the RiverHawks made more than half (.529) of their shots in the period. Other than the field goal percentage discrepancy, neither team had a commanding advantage on one another at the break.
NSU jumped out to a 26-20 and then later, a 28-22 lead to open the second-half. A three-pointer from Megan Fraley gave the Riverhawks a seven-point lead with 17:39 left in the game as NSU found themselves up 31-24.
Tarleton scored the game's next five points to pull within two points of the RiverHawks, but another three-pointer from Millar put NSU back on top 34-29. A lay-up from Jasmine Webb at the 11:52 mark pushed their lead back to seven points, up 36-29.
Following a media timeout with 11:28 left to play, the TexAnns defense found its stride, allowing the RiverHawks to just six more points over the final 11 and a half minutes of play.
Shedera Bowman hit a jumper with 10:02 remaining to pull the TexAnns within four points, down 38-34. Brittnie Haley then converted a three-point play following her lay-up and foul with 9:37 left to make it a one-point game with NSU on top 38-37.
The TexAnns tied the game 38-38 on JoAnne Jones' free throw and then took a lead they would never relinquish, going up 40-38 on Bowman's lay-up with 8:37 left to play. The TexAnns tallied four steals over the next few minutes of play and Tarleton's transition offense capitalized to take a 46-39 lead with 6 and a half minutes left in regulation.
The TexAnns took a nine-point lead on Stehling's jumper with 5:22 remaining and then later increased the lead to 10 points with 3:33 left on a pair of free throws from Haley. One more free throw from Webb would be all NSU would score over the final three minutes and the TexAnns came away with the 56-42 come-from-behind victory.
It was Tarleton's first win over NSU since 2005, when Tarleton defeated the RiverHawks in Stephenville.
Tarleton shot much better in the second-half, making .429 percent of their shots from the field and the TexAnn defense held the RiverHawks to just .300 percent shooting as well.
Haley led the TexAnns with 13 points and finished the game going 7-for-10 from the charity stripe. Shelby Adamson took care of business at the line as well, making 4-of-6 from the charity stripe and recording 12 points on the night. Stehling went 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and scored 12 points as well. Bowman made her season debut on Tuesday, but Thursday was her coming out party as she scored nine points while grabbing six rebounds in 15 minutes of play coming off the bench.
The TexAnns had eight turnovers in the first-half, but gave the ball away just two more times to finish the game with a season-low 10 turnovers.
Tarleton's defense held all RiverHawk players to single digits on the night and Millar finished the evening with a team-high nine points.
The TexAnns will take a little over a week off for final exams and will return to the court on Saturday, Dec. 12 with a road game against East Central. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Ada, Okla.
