Box Score STEPHENVILLE – In the first home game of the season, it was Shanae Lowrance with the game-winning layup in the final seconds to give Tarleton a win over St. Mary's.
 
Wednesday night, Lowrance did it again – this time in the home finale.
 
Senior center Kiara Wright found a cutting Lowrance wide open under the basket for the game-winning score with 17 seconds on the clock to lead Tarleton's upset of the region's No. 1 and nation's No. 3 seeded West Texas A&M 71-69 on Senior Night in Wisdom Gym Wednesday.
 
WT opened the game with five unanswered points before the TexAnns got their first point of the game on a free throw by Kathy Thomas. The Thomas free throw started an 8-2 Tarleton push, capped off by a Meagan O'Dell free throw – that gave Tarleton its first lead of the game at 8-7.
 
Tarleton maintained their one-point lead through the next seven minutes when another O'Dell 3-pointer started a 15-4 TexAnn run to give the TexAnns their largest lead of the game at 31-19 with 4:06 left in the opening quarter.
 
WT made a slight push but the TexAnns went into halftime with a 32-24 advantage.
 
Out of the break, the Lady Buffs brought the game to a 35-35 tie 2:45 into the fresh half which began a back-and-forth battle the rest of the way. After WT took a five-point lead, Tarleton clawed right back to take one of its own at 7:27 left.
 
The TexAnns extended their lead to as many as seven with 3:43 to go before WT went on a 10-2 run to lead by one with 39 seconds left, leading to the Lowrance layup and an ensuing Wright free throw after Tarleton forced a turnover on WT's final possession.
 
Wright led the team with 26 points and 15 rebounds while Bledsoe scored 10. Thomas and O'Dell each added nine while Raven McGrath chipped in seven off the bench. Lowrance (5), Karli Moore (2), Ikpeaku Iwobi (2) and Travanti Downes (1) rounded out the scoring for Tarleton.
 
Despite being outrebounded 33-34, Tarleton won the points in the paint battle 42-26 and, for the first time since Morgan Ashmore was lost to injury, Tarleton won the battle off the bench 12-6. The TexAnns also won the turnover battle 8-18 which led to a 21-10 scoring difference off turnovers.
 
The is Tarleton's first win over WT since Jan. 7, 2012 and for the Lady Buffs, who were named the top team in the South Central region in today's debut rankings,  this is their second loss of the season and first in LSC action.
 
The TexAnns will be on the road for the final two games of the regular season, beginning Saturday night when they visit Eastern New Mexico.