Box Score ALLEN – The Tarleton State TexAnns are headed to the Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship game.
 
With a 61-46 victory over Texas Woman's in the LSC Semifinal matchup Friday afternoon, Tarleton secured its second berth in the LSC Tournament Championship – which is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon at the Allen Event Center.
 
"We're really excited about the opportunity to play for another championship," said senior Shanae Lowrance, who helped lead Tarleton to a tournament championship in 2011-12. "Over the last few weeks our team really came together and we decided that we could make a run at this. We're just excited to be back here again."
 
The road to the championship game, however, had to go through Texas Woman's – the No. 3-seeded team in the tournament and the No. 8-ranked team in the South Central region.
 
Texas Woman's jumped out to a quick 5-2 but a layup by Kiara Wright, a jumper by Meagan O'Dell and a 3-pointer from Brianna Bledsoe turned the tide of the game and put the TexAnns up 9-5. Tarleton never trailed again.
 
The Pioneers cut the Tarleton lead to two at the 12:36 mark of the first half, but the Tarleton defense shut down the Pioneers for the next 9:45 – holding the Pioneers to just six free throws and no field goals from the floor as they extended the lead to 29-15.
 
With 1:09 left, TWU cut their deficit to eight by Tarleton ended the half with a Karli Moore jumper and two free throws from O'Dell to go into halftime with a 33-21 lead.
 
In the second half, Tarleton never led by less than double figures and pushed the lead to as many as 25. Tarleton had another defensive run in the second half, holding the Pioneers without a basket for 7:09 from 16:43 to 9:34.

"I thought defensively, this was one of our better games," said Tarleton head coach Ronnie Hearne. "We didn't shoot the ball very well and when you're not hitting shots, it helps to stop the other team from hitting shots."
 
With 15 points and 11 rebounds, Bledsoe led the way with her fourth career double-double and second of the tournament while O'Dell was the only other TexAnn in double figures with 11.

"Before this tournament started, Kiara Wright came up to me and said that if we were going to make a run I would have to play good," said Bledsoe. "I really took that to heart and, while its nice to get the points and rebounds, I'm not really thinking about it. I'm just trying to play my best and help the team win. The win is the most important thing."
 
Wright just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds while Shanae Lowrance and Raven McGrath added eight and six points, respectively. Kathy Thomas (4), Ikpeaku Iwobi (4), Travanti Downes (2) and Moore (2) rounded out the scoring for Tarleton.
 
The TexAnns shot a season-low 30 percent from the floor on 17-56 shooting – primarily due to an LSC Tournament record eight blocks by TWU's Mary Kovtun – but Tarleton managed to outscore the Pioneers 22-16 in the paint, 20-11 off turnovers and 14-2 on second chance points off 18 Tarleton offensive rebounds.
 
Tarleton State will square off against the winner of West Texas A&M-Midwestern State in tomorrow's championship at 3 p.m. The opponent will be decided after tonight's 6 p.m. semifinal game.