- Box Score
- Postgame Press Conference
- LSC Recap
BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – The Tarleton TexAnns came with five points of the RiverHawks after being down by 14 points midway through the second-half, but turnovers and missed field goals eventually outdid the TexAnns as Tarleton fell 74-62 to Northeastern State in the Lone Star Conference semifinals at Bruin Field House in Barltesvile, Okla.
The loss eliminates the TexAnns (23-6) from the conference tournament, while the RiverHawks 926-5) advances to the women's championship game. NSU will face either West Texas A&M or Central Oklahoma in the finals that is set to begin at 1 p.m.
NSU opened the game with a jumper from Cristy Nitz at the 19:24 mark and then finished a 7-2 run with a layup from Alix Perkins with 17:57 left to play. Tarleton countered with a pair of baskets from Morgan Stehling and JoAnne Jones to cut the deficit to one point, but Jasmine Webb made a layup at the other end of the court to make it a 9-6 game in favor of the RiverHawks.
Shelby Adamson tied the game with a layup and a free throw following an NSU foul at the 16:08 mark, but a pair of free throws from Jasmine Wright and a three-pointer by Megan Fraley put the RiverHawks up by five points, 14-9. Kelsey Benford opened a Tarleton 6-0 run with a deep jumper and Jones capped it off with a baseline jumper to put the TexAnns on top 15-14 with 11:36 left to play.
A 5-0 run from NSU put the RiverHawks back on top 19-15 with 10:30 left to play, but Brittnie Haley tossed in a layup to stop the run and Tarleton trailed 19-17 with 9:08 remaining in the first period. The two teams then traded baskets over the next minute of play and Tarleton trailed 21-19 with 8:09 left to play before NSU hit another three-pointer and got a layup from Webb to make it a 26-19 game with 6:12 left to play.
Benford again stopped the run with a pair of free throws, but Webb converted a couple of free throws as well on the other end to make it 28-21 still in favor of the RiverHawks. Sundberg got a layup at Tarleton's end of the floor to pull the TexAnns back within five points, but Jessica White hit a three-pointer with 3:43 left to play to make it a 31-23 game.
Haley completed a three-point play on a layup and free throw and Sundberg followed with a pair of baskets from the charity stripe to make it a three-point game still in favor of NSU, but the RiverHawks finished out the first-half with an 8-2 run and went into the locker room up 39-30 on the TexAnns.
Both teams were perfect from the free-throw line in the first half with NSU making all 10 of its attempts and Tarleton making all 12. NSU shot 52 percent from the field compared with Tarleton's 37.5 percent. The RiverHawks went 5-of-11 from downtown in the first period as well, while Tarleton went 0-for-5.
The TexAnns had nine turnovers in the first-half with all of them coming via the NSU steal. The RiverHawks turned the ball over just six times in the first 20 minutes of play. Despite Tarleton having more offensive rebounds (6 -3) and overall rebounds (14-12), NSU still managed to score more second chance points (7-5) than the TexAnns.
Adamson opened the second-half with a layup to pull the TexAnns back to within seven points. She was fouled on the play and her free throw made it a six point game, but Webb made a layup at the other end to push NSU's lead back to eight. Fraley then hit another three-pointer for NSU that put the RiverHawks up 44-33 with 18:21 left to play.
Tarleton pulled back within three, but White was fouled while shooting a three-pointer and she made all three free throws to make it a 47-36 game with 17:02 left. A free throw and layup later, NSU increased its lead to the largest point on the afternoon, going up by 14 points with 16:21 remaining.
Tori Skarke stopped the run with a three-pointer at the other end, but Fraley sank a layup to make it 52-39 with 15:46 remaining. Neither team scored a field goal over the next 6:14 until Tara Towns hit a three-pointer at the 9:32 mark to make it a 52-45 game still in favor of the RiverHawks.
The TexAnns pulled to within five points of NSU at the 7:46 mark on a three-pointer from Lisa Parker. Her shot from downtown made it 55-50, but Tarleton had three consecutive turnovers and were unable to put any points back on the board despite NSU not scoring either.
NSU took control of the game over the final five minutes of play and the closest Tarleton would get to NSU would be down 58-52 with 4:23 left to play. The TexAnns were forced to foul down the stretch and while NSU only made one out of two of their attempts on most of their trips to the line, Tarleton was unable to get the ball in the basket – shooting mostly three-pointers in the last two minutes of the game.
With the win, NSU avenged a 56-42 loss to the TexAnns in Stephenville back in December. It was Tarleton's first defeat on a neutral court this season.
Haley and Jones each finished the game with 12 points for the TexAnns, but it was NSU's Webb who finished the contest with a game-high 21 points. Fraley and White each scored 15 points apiece for the RiverHawks.
Tarleton shot just 30 percent from the field and NSU managed to shoot just over 45 percent on the day. The RiverHawks were an impressive 47 percent from beyond the arc as well.
After both teams went into the second-half with 100 percent efforts from the foul line, Tarleton finished shooting 78 percent while NSU shot 80 percent.
The TexAnns will now await an invitation to the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament that begins next Friday, March 12. The most likely destinations for the regional tournament will be Canyon, Texas or Topeka, Kan. depending on what happens with both West Texas A&M and Washburn over the final two days of the conference tournaments.
