Box Score
DENTON – Shelby Adamson scored a game-high 16 points and Morgan Stehling followed with 15 points as Tarleton cruised to a 71-50 win over Texas Woman's in Lone Star Conference Crossover action at Kitty Magee Arena in Denton on Monday.
The TexAnns snapped a two-game losing streak to the Pioneers (8-6) in Denton and improved to 14-2 overall. Tarleton closes out LSC North Division play with a 7-1 record, falling to the north division just once for the first time in school history.
Tarleton opened the game with a 10-2 run. JoAnne Jones and Brittanie Haley each scored a pair of baskets to give the TexAnns a quick eight-point lead. Later in the half, Shedera Bowman converted a pair of free throws with 9:32 remaining to push Tarleton's lead to 19-8. Shelby Adamson scored six of her eight first-half points over the final 3:30 and Tarleton ended the period on a 9-0 run to take a 36-16 lead into the break.
Tarleton shot .448 percent from the floor in the first-half while holding TWU to just .333 percent. The TexAnns forced 13 Pioneer turnovers and were able to score 12 points off of them.
Morgan Stehling led the TexAnns with nine points at the break and Adamson followed with her eight. Both players were a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. The TexAnns limited TWU's top scoring players, Megan Hashman (13.5) and Jessica Hanna (13.8), to just two points over the first 20 minutes.
Hanna did however open the second period with a lay-up to make it a 36-18 game, but the TexAnns scored nine of the game's next 13 points to take a 44-23 lead with 17:25 left to play. Tarleton then pushed its lead to 49-27 on a pair of free throws from Stehling at the 14:06 mark.
Tori Skarke hit a three-pointer with 11:22 remaining that put the TexAnns on up by 24 points, 57-33. TWU's Diandra Marquez countered with a three-pointer of her own and Skare followed with a lay-up back at the other end of the floor. She was fouled on the play, but Dixon was hit with a technical foul. Adamson made both free throws before Skarke converted hers and Tarleton's lead was 61-36.
A lay-up from Tara Towns at the 8:01 mark gave Tarleton a 65-37 lead, but TWU went on another 4-0 run to pull back to within 24 points. Lisa Parker put an end to the Pioneers' run with a three-pointer and Tarleton led 68-41 with less than five minutes remaining.
TWU outscored the TexAnns over the final five minutes, 9-3, but Tarleton came away with the 21-point victory – defeating the Pioneers 71-50. It was Tarleton's first win at Kitty Magee Arena since Feb. 16, 2006.
Skarke added 10 points off the bench for the TexAnns, making a pair of three pointers and going 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.
The TexAnns shot .436 percent from the field and limited TWU to just .375 percent. The TexAnn defense held Hanna and Hashman to a combined nine points as well.
Tarleton finished the game scoring 21 points off of 22 TWU turnovers. Despite shooting just .235 percent from beyond the arc, the TexAnns did manage to convert .760 percent of their shots from the charity stripe.
The TexAnns return to south division play this Wednesday, Jan. 20 when the team hosts Eastern New Mexico at Wisdom Gym. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. and all fans are encouraged to wear black for “black-out night”.
GAME NOTES
Shelby Adamson's free throw streak ended at 27 tonight. The sophomore missed a shot from the charity stripe at the 17:27 mark in the second-half. She did however finish the game making her next three to begin a new streak.
