STEPHENVILLE – Just like in their first game of the TexAnn Tip-Off Classic presented by Whataburger, the game came down to the final possession, but unfortunately for the TexAnns; it was an unfavorable one as St. Mary's defeated Tarleton 56-53 Saturday night.
 
Trailing by three with 2:38 left in the game, Tarleton State answered on back-to-back buckets from Averie Mack and Kathy Thomas to take a one-point lead with 1:37 left to play.
 
But St. Mary's struck right back with the go-ahead layup with 47 ticks on the clock to go up 54-53 and Tarleton State got a good look at a 3-pointer on the other end with 11 seconds left but it rattled in and out. The Rattlers extended the lead with a pair of free throws and Tarleton couldn't convert at the buzzer to drop the heartbreaker at home.
 
Tarleton struggled out of the gate as the Rattlers scored eight unanswered over the first 4:51 before Breanna Fuller got Tarleton on the board at 15:09.
 
After the Rattlers extended the lead to double figures at 20-10, the TexAnn defense picked up the pressure and sparked an 8-0 run, forcing three turnovers and going to the free throw line three times for six points. Fuller capped off the run with another layup to give her six of the eight points.
 
Tarleton pulled within one on a 3-ball by Thomas with 1:39 left in the opening half but a bucket from St. Mary's sent the Rattlers into halftime with a 25-22 lead.
 
Morgan Ashmore scored the first five points for Tarleton out of the break to spark a 9-4 run and give the TexAnns their first lead at 31-29.The teams continued to trade buckets, neither team leading by more than two points over the next eight minutes, until St. Mary's went up by three with 5:40 left.
 
Tarleton got back-to-back buckets from Meagan O'Dell and Fuller to retake the lead and the seesaw battle continued over the rest of the game until the Rattlers took the final lead.
 
Fuller, a Division I transfer from Northwestern State, led the team with 14 points while Ikpeaku Iwobi added 10. Karli Moore just missed her first career double-double with nine rebounds and eight points. Iwobi added eight boards of her own.
 
Thomas scored seven and Ashmore added six while Mack (4), O'Dell (2) and Raven McGrath (2) rounded out the scoring.
 
As a team, Tarleton shot just 39-percent from the floor and 17-percent from downtown while St. Mary's was 45-percent from the floor and just nine-percent from 3-point land.
 
The TexAnns will have a week between games with their next game coming against Texas Wesleyan Saturday at 5 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.