Box Score CANYON – Tarleton's run in the NCAA tournament came to a close in the round of 32 Saturday night with a 66-44 loss to No. 2-seed Colorado Mesa at the First United Bank Center in Canyon.
 
This marks the second time in school history Tarleton has advanced to the round of 32, both times coming over the careers of four-year letterwinners Brianna Bledsoe and Kiara Wright, who along with Shanae Lowrance, played their final games at Tarleton Saturday.
 
Tarleton fell behind early as a Brianna Bledsoe layup was the only scoring for the TexAnns while Colorado Mesa built an 8-2 lead over the first 1:45 of the game. The TexAnns were forced to play from behind the rest of the way.
 
Over the course of the 11^th minute, Tarleton cut an eight-point deficit to just four as Kiara Wright hit layups on three straight TexAnn possessions to make it 17-13 with 10:22 left in the half.
 
Mesa answered right back with six unanswered points to push the lead to double figures for the first time. Tarleton would bring the deficit to nine on four different occasions, but could get no closer over the remainder of the half and went into the break trailing 36-23.
 
In the first half, Tarleton shot just 40 percent (8-20) from the floor and 58 percent (7-12) from the free throw line in the opening half while Mesa was 48 percent from the floor, 38 percent from downtown and 75 percent at the line.
 
Wright led the TexAnns with 10 points in the first half but the next leading TexAnn scorer was Bledsoe with four.
 
Over the final half of basketball, Mesa pushed the lead to as many as 24 and Tarleton could only managed to get as close as 12.
 
For the game, Tarleton finished at 36 percent from the floor, 18 percent from downtown and 70 percent from the arc. The TexAnns were outrebounded 35-22, were outscored 28-24 in the paint and committed 20 turnovers to Mesa's 16.
 
"Basically it came down to, they had a really good game and we had one of our not-so-better games," said Tarleton head coach Ronnie Hearne.
 
Wright led the way with 14 points and seven rebounds while Bledsoe and Thomas were the next leading scorers with six and five, respectively.
 
Travanti Downes and Karli Moore each had four while Meagan O'Dell, Lowrance and Raven McGrath had three points apiece. Ikpeaku Iwobi rounded out the scoring with two.
 
This game marks the completion of careers for Tarleton seniors Kiara Wright, Brianna Bledsoe and Shanae Lowrance.
 
As a trio, these three seniors led Tarleton to three consecutive NCAA Regional Tournaments – four consecutive for the tandem of Wright and Bledsoe – and also helped deliver Tarleton's first-ever Lone Star Conference Championship and Tournament Championship in 2011-12.
 
Bledsoe will finish her career at sixth in school history for 3-point field goals made (108) and ninth in school history in 3-point field goals attempted (288) while Lowrance has etched her named in No. 6 all-time in blocked shots with 90.
 
Wright goes down as the current scoring and rebounding leader in Tarleton's NCAA era, finishes in the top 10 in seven all-time categories, including scoring, rebounding, blocks and steals, and was a two-time South Central Region and LSC Player of the Year.
 
"They've made it to the NCAA Tournament in every one of their years," said Hearne. "They've won LSC Championships and won a number of big games for us in their careers. They always give 100 percent and they always played their hearts out until the final whistle. I've been truly blessed to coach such a great group of young ladies."