SAN ANGELO – Tarleton (19-8, 16-3) dropped its second straight game Wednesday as Angelo State (12-13, 10-9) used a second-half surge to defeat the TexAnns 70-63 at the Junell Center.
 
This marks the first time since Jan. 24-28, 2009 that Tarleton has lost back-to-back Lone Star Conference games.
 
The TexAnns came out firing and put six on the board before Angelo ever cracked the score column.
 
Angelo pulled back to within three at 8-5, but Peyton Adamson ended the Rambelle push with a 3-ball off an assist from Kiara Wright.
 
Both teams went the next 2:43 without recording a field goal and the teams made the score 14-8 solely off free throws before ASU brought it back to three off a deep 3-ball from the top of the key.
 
Wright and Peyton answered with a layup and a 3-ball, respectively, to extend the TexAnn lead to 19-11 with 9:37 left in the opening half.
 
Tarleton extended its lead to 25-15 with 8:25 left before Angelo responded with a 13-2 run to take its first lead of the game, 28-27 with four minutes left.
 
Morgan Stehling ended the Ram push with a baseline jumper to give Tarleton the lead right back at 29-28. Cheyenne Berry hit a pair of free throws just before halftime to send the TexAnns into the break with a 31-28 lead.
 
After the first 20 minutes of play, Tarleton shot just 39 percent on 11-28 shooting, but held Angelo to just 22 percent on 7-32 shooting. Peyton led all scorers with 11 points while Wright chipped in seven points and five rebounds.
 
Angelo opened the second half on a 13-7, 4:44 run to take the lead 41-38. Over that span, Angelo was 5-9 from the floor.
 
With ASU leading by five at 43-38, Cheyenne Berry hit a left-handed layup then found Shanae Lowrance for a layup which also drew contact. The free throw by Lowrance tied the game at 43-43.
 
With the score knotted at 45-45, Angelo struck for an 8-0 run to put the TexAnns in a 53-45 hole with just under 10 minutes left.
 
Shelby Adamson took matters into her own hands by scoring the next six TexAnn points to pull Tarleton within four at 55-51.
 
After a timeout by ASU, Wright went to the free throw line with a chance to make it a one-possession game and did so by hitting one of two.
 
ASU answered with a 3-ball on the other end to lead by six and never looked back. Tarleton got within one at 60-59 following a Lisa Parker 3-ball, but couldn't retake the lead as ASU went on to the win.
 
Peyton led the TexAnns with 16 points while Shelby added 15. Wright had 12 points and eight rebounds while battling second half foul trouble.
 
As a team, Tarleton shot just 21-56 from the floor (38 percent) and 4-16 from beyond the arc while ASU was 23-60 from the floor (38 percent) and 6-17 from deep. Angelo was 16-28 in the second half.
 
Tarleton returns home Saturday for its regular season finale against Abilene Christian at 5 p.m. The four senior TexAnns will be honored for their efforts on 'Senior Night.'
 
A live radio broadcast can be heard on KSTV 93.1 FM in Stephenville or at TarletonSports.com. A live video feed can be seen on Tarleton's All-Access.