Box Score
STEPHENVILLE – Shelby Adamson scored a career-high 24 points, JoAnne Jones recorded her first double-double of the season and the Tarleton TexAnns opened up Lone Star Conference South Division play with a win for just the sixth time in school history as they defeated Angelo State 61-35 Saturday night at Wisdom Gym.
Adamson was perfect on Saturday, going 8-for-8 from the field and making all eight of her free throws as well. The sophomore guard has now made 24 consecutive shots from the charity stripe heading into Tarleton's next game. Jones meanwhile poured in 18 points and grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds in just a little over 29 minutes of work.
The TexAnns improved to 13-2 overall and 1-0 in LSC South Division action. Saturday's win marks just the second division-opening win for the TexAnns in the past four years. Tarleton is now 2-0 all-time in division opening games against the Rambelles, who fell to 8-8 overall and 1-1 in the south division.
“We just had to get down to the basics defensively,” Tarleton head coach Ronnie Hearne said following the win. “I thought we did a better job tonight in putting pressure on the ball and getting it out of the middle of the court. We forced them to pass the ball outside and we were able to get a lot of steals that way.”
Tarleton opened the game with a 5-0 lead and then later increased it to 9-1 with 14:51 left in the first-half on a pair of free throws from Jones. A 6-1 run by the Rambelles would pull ASU to within three (10-7), but Lisa Parker drained a pair of free throws and Adamson scored on a lay-up to put the TexAnn back up by seven, 14-7.
ASU pulled to within two points of the TexAnns on a three-pointer from Lindsey Leatherman and made it a 16-14 game in favor of the TexAnns with 7:45 remaining in the period. The TexAnn defense then buckled down to force three turnovers over ASU's next four possessions in which Tarleton turned into six points and increase their lead to 24-14 with 6:38 left to play before the half. Tarleton then closed out the remainder of the first-half with a 9-4 run to take a 14-point lead into the locker room, up 33-19.
The TexAnns shot just 37 percent from the field in the first-half, but Tarleton's defense countered the offensive woes and held the Rambelles to just 21 percent shooting from the floor. Tarleton outscored ASU 11-5 in points off turnovers and held the Rambelles to just six points in the paint while scoring 24 points of their own.
Both teams traded baskets over the first five minutes of the second period and Tarleotn's lead remained at 14 points when Brittnie Haley's lay-up with 15:00 made it a 42-28 game. The Rambelles pulled within 11 points on a lay-up from Lindsey Youngblood, but that would be as close as ASU would get as Tarleton closed out the game on an 18-3 run that spanned over the final 10:30 minutes.
Tarleton finished the game shooting just over 40 percent from the field after making 47 percent of their shots in the second-half. Jones and Adamson accounted for 69 percent of Tarleton's 61 points and finished with 42 points total – more than all of ASU's points.
ASU finished the game shooting just 22 percent from the field and was held to its lowest point total in over 33 years. Stephen F. Austin held the Rambelles to just 32 points back in the 1976-77.
The TexAnns will take a quick break from division play on Monday, Jan. 18 when the team travels to Texas Woman's to make-up a game that was cancelled due to inclement weather back on Jan. 7. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Kitty Magee Arena in Denton.
