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STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton TexAnns bounced back from Saturday's loss in Kingsville and opened Lone Star Conference Rivalry Week with a 70-47 victory over Midwestern State at Wisdom Gym on Wednesday.

The win pushed the TexAnns to 17-4 overall on the season and 4-2 in south division play. The Mustangs fell to 6-13 overall and remain winless in the south with an 0-6 mark this season.

Morgan Stehling started the game off with a layup to give the TexAnns an early 2-0 lead and Tarleton kept it rolling – compiling a 12-3 run to open the game. Later in the half, the TexAnns were up 18-8 before a 6-0 run pushed Tarleton's lead to 16 points with 10:26 left to play before the break.

MSU scored its last basket of the first-half with 3:43 remaining on the clock and Tarleton closed out the half with another 6-0 run to take a 42-20 lead into the locker room.

The Mustangs opened the second-half with an 11-4 run that pulled MSU to within 15 points, but Tarleton would score the next seven points to increase its lead to 53-31 with 12:37 left in the game.

MSU's Aqueelah Watkins hit a jumper with 7:51 to cap off a 10-0 run that pulled the Mustangs to within 12 points, but that would be as close as they would come – scoring just six more points over the final seven minutes of the game. Tarleton meanwhile closed out the remainder of the game with a 17-6 run and take the game 70-47.

Shelby Adamson scored a team-high 14 points for the TexAnns, while Brittnie Haley and Shedera Bowman each added 10 points apiece. Tara Towns scored nine points off the bench for the TexAnns as Tarleton finished the game shooting .545 percent from the field.

Watkins led the Mustangs with 14 points and Nolisha Markham scored 11 points on the evening. Watkins pulled down a game-high nine rebounds as well.

The TexAnn defense held MSU to just .306 percent shooting on the night while forcing 19 turnovers that the Tarleton offense turned into 22 points. The TexAnns had 12 steals and five blocks on the night. Benford led the team with three blocks.

The Mustangs out-rebounded Tarleton 35-33 and did manage to score 15 second-chance points compared with the TexAnns' eight points. More than 50 percent of Tarleton's offense came from inside as the TexAnns scored 46 points in the paint.

The TexAnns and Mustangs will resume LSC Rivalry Week again on Saturday when the teams head to Wichita Falls. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. inside D.L. Ligon Coliseum.