Box Score STEPHENVILLE – In true rivalry fashion, Tarleton State and Midwestern State needed extra time to decide a winner in front of the largest crowd in the history of Wisdom Gym Wednesday night with the No. 21 TexAnns coming out on top 78-75 in an overtime thriller.
 
The overtime period began in a forgettable way for Tarleton - beginning with a turnover, a Midwestern free throw and a blocked shot – before Raven McGrath got the TexAnns on the board in the extra period with a pair of free throws.
 
At the 3:03 mark of the extra frame, Tarleton lost its second starter of the game to five fouls as Brianna Bledsoe was whistled and forced to exit the contest and Midwestern answered with a pair of free throws to take a one-point lead.
 
After the first nine total points of overtime was scored on free throws, the first two field goals of the extra period came with less than two minutes to go – a Midwestern layup and an answer on the other end from Kiara Wright to cut Tarleton's deficit back to one at 71-72.
 
Wright struck again with 46 seconds left with a layup off a dish from Meagan O'Dell to give the TexAnns the lead at 73-72.
 
On Midwestern State's next possession, Shanae Lowrance blocked Andrea Carter's layup attempt right into the arms of Wright, who was immediately fouled and sent to the line. Wright went 1-2 at the stripe but wrestled the rebound away for a new possession.
 
After a timeout, the senior center was fouled again but this time hit both free throws to give the TexAnns a 76-72 advantage. Midwestern struck right back, though, with an old-fashioned 3-point play to make it a one-point lead.
 
Off the ensuing inbounds pass, O'Dell took the pass, was fouled and converted both free throws on the other end to bring the game to its final score of 78-75. Midwestern State missed a final 3-point attempt and Wright collected the rebound with one second left to secure the win.
 
For the game, Wright scored 35 points and grabbed 21 rebounds for her third career 20-20 game and second career 30-20 game. It is also her ninth career double-double against Midwestern in 10 career games.
 
Tarleton got the scoring started with a Wright layup but neither team was ever able to pull away as the entire first half was played with nine tied scores, six lead changes and neither team ever led by more than three points.
 
However, the TexAnns were able to string together five straight points at the end of the half on layups by Wright and Bledsoe to erase a 27-26 deficit and take a 30-27 lead into halftime.
 
Over the first 20 minutes, Tarleton shot 41 percent from the field while holding Midwestern to just 32 percent. The difference at the free throw line kept Tarleton from pulling away, as the TexAnns were 3-8 at the stripe compared to 8-9 for MSU.
 
Tarleton controlled every other aspect of the game in the opening half, however, including the battle in the paint where the TexAnns were outscoring the Mustangs 22-14 in the paint and outrebounding MSU 23-17.
 
Out of the break, Tarleton opened the new half on a 16-11 run to put the TexAnns up by the biggest margin of the game – an eight-point lead with 13:16 left in the game.
 
Over the next six minutes, Tarleton maintained its lead – going up by as many as eight and never leading by less than five – but Midwestern answered with an 8-1 run to take the lead right back at 56-54 with 5:22.
 
After the teams traded the lead over the next four minutes, Tarleton worked it back to a 63-63 tie following a Wright layup at 2:04. A pair of free throws by Bledsoe on the next possession gave Tarleton a 65-63 lead they would carry down to the final 13 seconds.
 
With 13 ticks on the clock, Tarleton lost starting guard Kathy Thomas to her fifth foul and Midwestern abruptly went down and tied the game at 65-65. The TexAnns got one final half-court heave from McGrath but the shot didn't go down and the game went to overtime.
 
Behind Wright's 35-point effort was Bledsoe with 11 points and McGrath with 10. Thomas (7), Lowrance (6), O'Dell (5) and Karli Moore (4) rounded out the scoring for Tarleton.
 
Tarleton was 45 percent shooting from the floor compared to 39 percent by Midwestern and won the battle down low, outscoring MSU in the paint 42-38 and outrebounding the Mustangs 45-36.
 
The lead changed hands 20 times and was tied 17 times over the course of the game.
 
Tarleton will now turn its sights to a weekend road trip across the Red River for a 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon matchup against Cameron in Lawton, Oklahoma.