Box Score DENTON – Brianna Bledsoe, Kathy Thomas and Kiara Wright combined for 41 of Tarleton's 72 points to lead the TexAnns (4-1) back into the win column with a 72-62 victory over Central Oklahoma in the first game of the Marriott Champions Circle Pioneer Premiere.

Tarleton's offensive struggles appeared to carry over from Tuesday in the opening minutes as the TexAnn could muster only eight points in the first 8:19 of action as UCO built a 14-8 lead.
 
A Wright layup at the 10:55 mark, however, got the TexAnns rolling with an 18-5 run over the next 6:01 to give Tarleton its biggest lead of the half at 26-19. Tarleton never trailed by less than four down the stretch and took a 31-24 lead into the break.
 
The Bronchos came out of the half with a 14-5 run of their own to retake the lead at 38-36 with 14:34 left in the contest before a Bledsoe 3-ball gave the TexAnns the lead right back.
 
Tarleton maintained the lead, pushing it to as many as four over the next six minutes, before Meagan O'Dell buried a 3-pointer at 8:39 to give the TexAnns some breathing room at 53-47. They would keep at least a five-point lead over the next two minutes.
 
The Bronchos got an old-fashioned 3-point play with just over four minutes to play to cut the TexAnn lead to two at 58-56.
 
Two possessions and 36 seconds later, Thomas answered the call for Tarleton with a 3-pointer in front of the TexAnn bench to push the Tarleton lead back to five. Thomas added a free throw the next time down the court to make it 62-56 Tarleton with 2:29 left.
 
Tarleton didn't lead by less than five in the final 2:29.
 
Neither team led by double-figures until the final 14 seconds when a pair of Bledsoe free throws gave Tarleton the final 72-62 score.
 
Wright recorded her first double-double in three games with 16 points and 14 rebounds. She hasn't gone three straight games without a double-double since her sophomore season. She is now 13 points away from moving into the top 10 in school history in scoring.
 
Bledsoe, the reigning LSC Offensive Player of the Week, led the team with 20 points, highlighted by a perfect 7-7 afternoon at the charity stripe. Thomas also poured in 15 points on 4-6 shooting from the floor, 2-3 from downtown and 5-6 from the free throw line.
 
Rounding out the Tarleton scoring was Morgan Ashmore (6), Shanae Lowrance (5), Meagan O'Dell (5), Karli Moore (4) and Ikpeaku Iwobi (1).
 
The TexAnn defense stifled the UCO 3-point offense, holding the Bronchos to 5-30 (17 percent) from beyond the arc. They came in to the game shooting 37-percent from downtown.
 
Tarleton has one more game in Denton as they will play in-region foe, Regis University, Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m.