- Box Score
STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton women's basketball team rebounded from their tough, last-second loss Thursday against Southeastern Oklahoma with a 95-50 victory over East Central Saturday night in Wisdom Gym.
Tarleton (5-1) dominated the Lady Tigers (3-4) throughout the game, with the only tie coming at the 17:57 mark. For the rest of the game, the TexAnns continued to build on their already commanding lead.
Tarleton pushed their advantage out to double-digits with a 12-2 lead after five minutes. East Central had no answer for the TexAnns' pace or size, as Tarleton scored 26 points in the paint and 10 points on fast breaks.
The Lady Tigers found themselves in a huge whole at the half, facing a 47-19 Tarleton lead. The TexAnns shot 50 percent from the field, while holding East Central to just a 26.1 percentage. Tarleton also out-rebounded the Lady Tigers 26-9 in the first half.
East Central had a pair of scoring droughts over three and a half minutes in length, while the TexAnns never went longer than 2:38 without scoring a basket.
Morgan Stehling had a phenomenal first half, in what ended up being a career game for her. Over the first 20 minutes, Stehling compiled 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting, plus 5-for-5 from the free throw line. She also recorded four steals, while Shelby Adamson added 16 points for the TexAnns.
The second half started with Tarleton extending their lead to 34 in the first minute and a half. The TexAnns controlled every aspect of the game, showcasing their ability to score inside as well as shoot from deep.
Tarleton pushed their advantage all the way to 46 at one point, but happily settled for the 45-point win over the Lady Tigers. East Central was never able to completely slow down the TexAnns, allowing 48 second-half points, just two shy of their own total for the game.
Stehling finished the game with 23 points, a new career high for the junior, passing her previous record of 22 set on Feb. 13, 2010 against West Texas A&M. She added five steals and four rebounds to her already outstanding performance.
Adamson had a productive game herself, scoring 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 4-of-6 from the charity stripe. Brianna Bledsoe was a spark off the bench for Tarleton, adding 14 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, while Crystal Atwood contributed 10 points and six boards.
Overall in the game, Tarleton shot 50 percent from the field and hit nine three's in the 45-point victory. The TexAnns attempted a season-high 74 shots in the game, showing the pace at which Tarleton was running the floor.
A huge part of the TexAnns' scoring came from bench players, who combined for 39 points in the game. Tarleton also controlled the post, recording 48 points in the paint compared to East Central's 12 points.
The Lady Tigers were led by Jourdan Clark, who scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds, and Laura Harris, who scored 11 points and went 3-for-3 from deep. East Central shot just 31.3 percent from the floor, and struggled at the charity stripe with a 16-for-24 outing.
After the game, Tarleton's junior guard Adamson contributed the victory to a total team effort.
“It was huge for us to bounce back from Thursday's loss,” said Adamson. “Everybody really stepped up for us, especially our post players.”
The TexAnns made a number of adjustments in their game since Thursday, but nowhere more noticeable than on the glass, with 19 offensive rebounds and 29 defensive rebounds Saturday.
“Offensive rebounding killed us Thursday, and we got production from everyone tonight,” said Adamson. “Morgan had a great game and it really set the tone for everyone else.”
Tarleton next travels to Southwestern Oklahoma Tuesday, Dec. 7 to take on the Bulldogs at 6 p.m. before an extended break for finals. The TexAnns' next home game is Monday, Dec. 20 against Texas Woman's at 7 p.m.
