- Box Score

PORTALES, N.M. – Tarleton head coach Ronnie Hearne is a part of a very elite club.
 
The ninth-year TexAnn coach earned win No. 1000 for his coaching career with a 78-70 win against Eastern New Mexico (3-9, 1-5) at Greyhound Arena Wednesday.
 
“As I look back on the last 40 years, there have been a lot of special players and a lot of special teams,” said Hearne. “I'm blessed to have been a part of those teams, I'm blessed to be at Tarleton, and I'm blessed to have a really great job.”
 
The victory certainly not the easiest or most relaxing of Hearne's 40-year coaching career as the Zias went on an 8:30, 22-10 run to cut Tarleton's 15-point lead to just three with 4:31 left in the game.
 
ENMU got to within two points with 3:40 left, but layups by Morgan Stehling and Kiara Wright extended the TexAnn lead to six at 70-64.
 
Down the stretch, the TexAnns were a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line and Brianna Bledsoe sealed the deal with a steal in the final seconds.
 
Tarleton got off to a fast start with a 15-4 lead over the first four minutes and never really looked back during the opening 20 minutes.
 
ENMU did manage to get the score to 28-19 with just over eight to play, but a Stehling layup started a 9-0 Tarleton push to extend the TexAnn lead to a game-high 18 points. Tarleton took a 13-point lead into halftime.
 
Shelby Adamson led the way with 22 points while Stehling added a season-high 18.
 
Lisa Parker (10) and Kiara Wright (11) also cracked double figures despite playing in foul trouble most of the night. Wright was three rebounds shy of her third straight double-double, finishing with seven.
 
Eastern New Mexico's Precious Herrin entered the game as the Lone Star Conference's leading scorer with 19.7 per game and Kiara Tate was next on the team with just over 12 per contest.
 
Wednesday, however, Tate led all scorers with a career-high 40 points. Her previous high was 20.
 
Meanwhile Herrin was held to just 10 – six of which came via free throws.
 
For a full box score, see the link at the top of the story. For video highlights click on the photo associated with the story.
 
Tarleton returns to action Saturday for a battle of LSC unbeatens against West Texas A&M at 5 p.m.
 
Please visit TarletonSports.com for more on TexAnn basketball.