STEPHENVILLE – The No. 20 Tarleton TexAnns will open that season Saturday, with arguably to toughest back-to-back slate of the season, against in-region powers Pittsburg State and Fort Hays.
 
“Pittsburg State has had exhibitions with three Division I opponents (Nebraska, Kansas, and Wichita State) and Fort Hays has played Oklahoma State in an exhibition and were ahead with a couple of minutes left,” said Tarleton head coach Ronnie Hearne. “We're fixing to play two very good in-region opponents.”
 
Pittsburg State finished last season 16-12 and return its leading scorer, Drew Roberts. Roberts averaged 11 points per contest last season.
 
Tarleton and Pittsburg State have met twice in their history, with the series split 1-1. Tarleton won the last meeting 75-46 in 2009.
 
Following the Pittsburg opener, the TexAnns will play a rare Sunday afternoon game against Fort Hays.
 
Fort Hays is coming off a disappointing 12-14 season, where they dropped five of their final six games.
 
The Tigers are returning their leading scorer from a year ago, however, in Crista Bechard who averaged 11.2 points per contest.
 
This is the first meeting between these two programs.
 
Tarleton enters the St. Mary's Classic ranked in the national preseason polls for the first time in school history, the preseason Lone Star Conference favorites and have the LSC Preseason Player of the Year, Shelby Adamson.
 
Tip-off for the season opener is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and a live broadcast can be heard on HPRN 107.9. The Sunday tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. and can be heard on the Tarleton Athletic Radio Network KSTV 93.1 FM.
 
For more information on Tarleton women's basketball, please visit TarletonSports.com.