DENTON – Tarleton State (6-3, 0-1) dropped its Lone Star Conference opener 63-54 to Texas Woman's at Kitty Magee Arena Saturday afternoon.
 
The game was a seesaw affair from the get-go when TWU opened the game with the first bucket before Meagan O'Dell answered with a jumper of her own off a dish from Raven McGrath to get the TexAnns on the board and knot the game at 2-2.
 
After the Pioneers went up 6-4 with 17:15 left, neither team could get going as the game stayed at 6-4 over the next 2:35 until TWU added a pair of free throws to go up 8-4.
 
On the next Tarleton possession, however, the TexAnns wasted no time in scrapping right back as Ikpeaku Iwobi drilled a pair of free throws and Breanna Fuller hit a second-chance jumper off her own offensive rebound to even things back up at 8-8. The teams would trade buckets over the next seven minutes to keep the game tied at 18-18 with 6:36 in the opening half.
 
O'Dell gave Tarleton a lead with a free throw and Karli Moore and Fuller added a jumper and a pair of free throws, respectively, to put the TexAnns up by five with 3:42 left in the half.
 
Texas Woman's would surge right before the break, however, with a 7-2 run – including a buzzer-beating jumper right before halftime to end the opening half in a 25-25 tie.
 
The Pioneers opened the new half on a 15-8 run over the first eight minutes to take a 40-33 lead. Over that run, Tarleton State was just 3-12 from the floor with a pair of points from Kathy Thomas, McGrath and Travanti Downes while TWU was 6-11 from the floor over that span.
 
From there, Texas Woman's continued to pad the lead by extending the score to 48-36 with 8:45 left before a 3-pointer from Bailey Wipff and a jumper from Downes cut the Tarleton deficit to seven. Tarleton couldn't get any closer on that run but did pull it to seven once again at 52-45 with 5:31 left in the game.
 
After a layup from TWU, Wipff drilled her second 3-ball of the half to bring the TexAnns within two possessions at 54-48 with 2:58 left, making it the smallest deficit of the half in over 11 minutes.
 
Tarleton turned it over on the next two possessions while Texas Woman's pushed the lead back to eight at 56-48 but Tarleton continued to battle as the TexAnns stole the ensuing inbounds pass and got an old-fashioned 3-point play from Thomas to bring the TexAnns within five at 56-51 with 1:43 left to play.
 
The TexAnns could get no closer as the Pioneers went on to claim the win.
 
Tarleton State shot just 30 percent from the field on 18-60 shooting as well as 21 percent from downtown on 3-14 shots from beyond the arc. The TexAnns were also 65 percent from the charity stripe on 13-20 shooting. The TexAnns lost the battle of the boards 34-45 and were outscored off the bench 33-18.
 
Thomas led the team with 14 points while Karli Moore added seven, all in the first half, for the TexAnns. Iwobi, Downes and Wipff each added six points each while Meagan O'Dell added five. McGrath (4), Fuller (4) and Morgan Ashmore (2) rounded out the scoring for the TexAnns.
 
Moore and Iwobi led the team with eight rebounds each while Thomas and McGrath each had a team-high two assists.
 
Tarleton State will return to action in the fourth straight game away from Wisdom Gym Wednesday night when they visit Angelo State for a 6 p.m. matchup with the Rambelles in the Junell Center.