STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton State scored five points in the final 1:30 to break a late tie and knock off No. 20 Midwestern State 61-56 in Wednesday night's Lone Star Conference rivalry game in front of a packed house at Wisdom Gym.
 
"It was an absolutely amazing atmosphere in Wisdom Gym tonight," said head coach Misty Wilson. "That is the type of crowd you think about when you think about Tarleton State. It fires our girls up to be able to play a big game like that in front of a great crowd like that. It was a great game and I'm so proud of our girls for keeping their composure and getting the win."
 
With 1:28 left in the game, Midwestern State brought the game to a 58-58 tie but that would be the last point of the night for the Mustangs as the TexAnns were in complete control down the stretch.
 
Kathy Thomas picked the pocket of MSU's Shambreka Jones which ultimately led to the go ahead layup from Ikpeaku Iwobi with 36 seconds left off an assist from Raven McGrath. Thomas' defense struck again when she pulled down a defensive rebound with 17 seconds left and a free throw on the other end to extend the lead to 59-56.
 
Out of a timeout following the free throw, Midwestern State immediately gave the ball right back by traveling with the inbounds pass. Bailey Wipff was then fouled and hit a pair of free throws to seal the win for the TexAnns.
 
Much like the final two minutes, the entire game was a seesaw affair.
 
Thomas got the scoring started with five points out of the gate on a fast-break layup off her own steal and a 3-pointer off a dime from Wipff to give the TexAnns a quick 5-1 advantage in the game. After the Mustangs pulled within one at 7-6, Karli Moore hit her first career 3-pointer to extend it back to four.
 
A Raven McGrath layup on the next Tarleton possession put the TexAnns up six with 16:33 left in the opening half but the Mustangs rallied and eventually took a six-point lead of their own with 2:19 left in the half.
 
Thomas scored four straight to pull within a bucket but an old-fashioned 3-point play from Midwestern sent the Mustangs into halftime with a 33-28 lead.
 
Out of the break, Midwestern immediately pushed its lead to seven points but a 3-ball from Wipff at 17:14 erased the seven-point lead for good and started Tarleton's second-half rally. Tarleton eventually brought the game to a 40-40 tie and, after a jumper from MSU, took the lead on a Thomas 3-pointer with nine minutes to go.
 
The game stayed tight all the way to the 56-56 tie in the final two minutes.
 
Thomas led all scorers with 19 points on 7-11 shooting from the floor while Ikpeaku Iwobi recorded her second straight double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, including the game-winning layup. Wipff added nine whole Moore scored eight.
 
McGrath (4), Meagan O'Dell (3) and Morgan Ashmore (2) rounded out the scoring for Tarleton. As a team, Tarleton shot 42 percent from the field and 46 percent from downtown and held the Mustangs to just 35 percent from the floor and 18 percent from beyond the arc.
 
For head coach Misty Wilson, she continues the record start to her career by improving to 9-3 on the season. This is also the first win in her first career game against a ranked opponent.
 
The TexAnns will return to action Saturday afternoon when Tarleton crosses the Red River for an afternoon contest against Cameron in Aggie Gym at 2 p.m.