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TARLETON (11-1) at Texas Woman's (6-4)
Thursday, Jan. 7, 2009 •  7 p.m.
Kitty Magee Arena • Denton, Texas

GAME DAY QUICK FACTS
RADIO: KSTV (93.1 FM)
SERIES: TexAnns lead 19-9

WHAT'S ON TAP
The Tarleton TexAnn basketball team will return to the road this week as the TexAnns travel to Denton on Thursday, Jan. 4 to take on Texas Woman's. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Kitty Magee Arena.
 
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
The TexAnns improved to 11-1 overall for just the third time in school history with a 79-41 over Texas Wesleyan in Stephenville on Saturday. The last time a TexAnn team started out 11-1 over the first 12 games was back during the 1983-84 season. The 1982-83 TexAnn team started out 11-1 as well.

Texas Wesleyan kept Saturday's game close and even took a 15-11 lead with a little over 12 minutes left to play in the first-half. Following a media timeout, Morgan Stehling connected on a three-pointer from the right wing that propelled the TexAnns to a 20-0 run and a 31-15 lead. The Lady Rams were held without a basket for the next 7:36, going 0-for-5 from the field and turning the ball over 10 times. Tarleton closed out the half on a 34-4 run and took a 46-19 lead into the locker room.

The TexAnns came out and did more of the same in the second-half, outscoring TWU 33-22 over the final period and picking up the 38-point win. Despite only making 4-of-20 (.200) from the three-point line, the TexAnns still managed to finish with a .423 shooting percentage and limited the Lady Rams to a .333 percentage from the field overall.

JoAnne Jones scored a team-high 19 points, Brittnie Haley scored 13 points and Kelsey Benford added 10 points as all three post players scored in double figures for the first time this season. Haley grabbed 12 rebounds and collected her third double-double of the season and first one since Nov. 20 in Tarleton's win over Pittsburg State where she scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds.

Tarleton's depth was really showcased on Saturday night as well. Along with Benford's 10 points, Morgan Stehling finished the game with nine points coming off the bench. Defensively, Tarleton's bench players grabbed 26 of Tarleton's 48 rebounds and Tara Towns collected a game-high three steals.

HOME SWEET HOME
The TexAnns remained perfect at home following Saturday's win, improving to 7-0 inside the friendly confines of Wisdom Gym. Dating back to last season, the TexAnns have won 11 straight games at home.

AT THE LINE
Brittnie Haley entered last Saturday's game having made 21 consecutive free throws, but her streak was snapped when she missed her first free throw at the 16:51 mark in the first-half. Haley rebounded well though, making her next three attempts at the line to begin a new streak.

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR
Tarleton won its first game of the New Year for the second consecutive season and improved to 18-12 overall in those games. The TexAnns have won six out of the last seven contests to begin the new calendar year.

TARLETON AMONG THE NATION'S ELITE
Coach Ronnie Hearne's squad is again well represented in the latest NCAA national statistics released this past week. The TexAnns lead the nation with a +29.7 scoring margin and rank third nationally in scoring defense, allowing opponents to just 50.1 points a game. Tarleton ranks seventh in field goal percentage defense (.328) and eighth in offensive field goal percentage (.486). The TexAnns find themselves ranked in the top 100 nationally in multiple categories including: turnover margin (10th, 7.67), blocks (13th, 5.1), scoring (15th, 79.8), three-point percentage (22nd, .378), rebound margin (30th, 7.3), assists (17.2) and three-point field goals per game (100th, 5.9).

Several players are included in the latest individual national rankings. Jones moved up from 11th to fifth in field goal percentage (.630) and ranks 57th in blocks (1.5). Brittnie Haley ranks 69th in free throw percentage (.825) and Tori Skarke ranks 73rd in three-point percentage (.393). Sonya Sundberg rounds out the players in the top 100 as she ranks 83rd in assists (4.3).
 
AROUND THE LSC
Brittnie Haley ranks 19th in the conference averaging 12.3 ppg and JoAnne Jones ranks 22nd averaging 11.8 ppg. Haley also ranks fifth in the league in rebounds (7.0 rpg), fifth in blocks (1.2) and fourth in free throw percentage (.825). Jones is tops in the LSC making 63.0 percent of her shots from the field and is tied for second in blocks (1.5). Sonya Sundberg is fourth in assists (4.3) and second in three-point percentage (.57). Sheby Adamson is 11th in assists (3.8) and  ranks 12th in free throw percentage (.789) also. Morgan Stehling ranks 15th in three-point percentage (.429), while Tori Skarke ranks seventh in three-pointers made (2.0 per game). Kelsey Benford is 8th in the league in blocked shots (1.0).

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Texas Woman's enters Thursday's contest having won two straight games that includes a 123-84 blowout win over Texas A&M International back on Dec. 31. Jessica Hanna scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as well for a double-double. Taja Guerin had 10 rebounds in the game also.

The Pioneers shot .500 (40-80) from the field and made 50 percent of their shots (15-30) from beyond the three-point line. Eight of 10 Pioneer players scored in double figures.

Hanna comes in leading her team in scoring (13.2) and steals (21). Megan Hashman follows averaging 11.8 ppg. Jessica Durr leads the team in rebounds (7.0) and field goal percentage (.525). Tiandrea Dixon tops the Pioneers in assists (37), while Guerin leads the team in blocks (9).

The Pioneers are shooting .432 as a team from the field, .362 from beyond the arc and .667 from the charity stripe. TWU is averaging 74.2 point per contest while allowing 70.1 points to opponents. 

Beth Jillson is in her third season as the head coach at Texas Woman's. She has guided the Pioneers to a record of 28-26 in her first two season's in Denton.

Before going to TWU, Jillson was the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Charleston Southern (NCAA DI) in Charleston, S.C. Prior to her stint at CSU, she was the assistant coach for one year at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs, N.M. From 2002-05 she worked at Oklahoma State, serving as a graduate assistant before stepping up to director of basketball operations.

A native of Fort Worth, Jillson played collegiate basketball at Weatherford for two years before finishing out her career at Hardin Simmons. She played guard and helped lead her team to the NCAA Division III Elite Eight in 2000.

THE SERIES
Tarleton leads the all-time series 19-9 and have won three of the last four contests, including last season's 75-54 win over the Pioneers at Wisdom Gym. The TexAnns are 6-7 against the Pioneers away from Stephenville and have dropped the last two games played at Kitty Magee Arena.