- Box Score
STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton women's basketball team defeated A&M-Kingsville by a score of 81-61, as the TexAnns cruised past the Javelinas.
Tarleton pushes their record to 16-2 overall and 6-0 in the Lone Star Conference South Division, while A&M-Kingsville drops to 3-16 on the year and 1-5 in the LSC.
The TexAnns got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 7-2 lead in the first two minutes of play on a pair of Brittnie Haley lay-ups and a Tara Towns three-pointer. Towns was feeling it from behind the arc Saturday night, hitting all three of her attempts from deep in the first half.
The Javelinas were able to hang with Tarleton in the opening half until the 4:50 mark, where the TexAnns exploded for a 12-0 run to end the half. At the break, Tarleton led 39-27.
TAMUK's final lead of the game came with 6:38 remaining in the first half, when the Javelina's held a 24-22 lead. Unfortunately for A&M-Kingsville, they would trail the rest of the way.
Tarleton shot 44.8 percent from the floor in the first half, while hitting nine of their 10 free throw attempts. Defensively, the TexAnns held the Javelinas to 42.3 percent from the floor and 28.6 percent from three point range.
Morgan Stehling and Towns were the main reason Tarleton entered the half with a 12 point lead after scoring 10 and nine points respectively. Sonya Sundberg helped out with four assists, while Kelsey Benford added three assists and three rebounds.
Novella Thomas was the only real threat to Tarleton's success, scoring 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting in the first half. Chelsea Solis chipped in eight points, while Victoria Gonzalez grabbed six rebounds for the Javelinas.
With a 12-point lead in hand, Tarleton came out in the second half looking to end any chance for TAMUK to come back. The Javelinas were able to knock the deficit back down to six on a couple of runs early in the second 20 minutes, but never got any closer to the TexAnns.
From the 14:18 mark to 11:34 remaining in the game, Tarleton put the game away with an 11-0 stretch, giving themselves a 19-point lead. That took all the wind out of TAMUK's sails as desperation set in for the Javelinas.
The TexAnns got the lead to 26 points on three separate occasions thanks in large part to the play of Tarleton's bench. The back-up players combined for 44 points in the game with all 14 TexAnns getting on the floor.
For the fourth time this season, Tarleton walked away with a 20+ point victory as they defeated the Javelinas 81-61.
The 23rd-ranked TexAnns shot 46 percent from the floor, 34.8 percent from behind the arc, and 68.2 percent from the line. Tarleton held TAMUK to 38 percent from the floor and 60.7 percent from the charity stripe. Despite getting out-rebounded by two rebounds, 37-35, Tarleton controlled the paint with 38 points inside and the tempo with 18 fast break points.
The most glaring difference between the two teams was Tarleton's ability to record 18 steals and force 25 turnovers, while only giving up eight steals and 16 turnovers. The TexAnns also had 21 assists compared to the Javelinas' nine.
Playing all 14 girls in the game, Tarleton had scoring from 11 different TexAnns.
Stehling led all scorers with 18 points, while Haley and Towns both chipped in 12 points apiece. Benford, Sundberg, and Shelby Adamson each had five assists in the game, with Sundberg and Adamson both recording three steals. Benford was Tarleton's leading rebounder with six in the contest.
Next week, the TexAnns will have a pair of games with the Mustangs going to Wichita Falls on Wednesday before hosting Midwestern State Saturday in Wisdom Gym, where Tarleton is 9-1 on the season.
