SAN ANGELO – A career night from Raven McGrath lifted Tarleton State to an 81-71 win over Angelo State Wednesday night, giving head coach Misty Wilson her first career Lone Star Conference win at the helm of the TexAnns.
 
The win marks the first time since February 3, 2001 that either team scored at least 80 points in a regulation game of this series between Angelo State and Tarleton. It is the first time since February 1, 1996 that Tarleton State topped the 80-point plateau against Angelo.
 
McGrath got the TexAnn offense rolling just 33 seconds into the game with an offensive rebound and a pair of free throws to give Tarleton the first points of the game. The McGrath free throws were just the beginning for the junior guard's career night for Tarleton.
 
After three points from Angelo State to give the Rambelles a 3-2 lead, McGrath drained a jumper to retake the lead and give Tarleton the lead for the last time.
 
The McGrath jumper was the beginning of an 18-2 run that gave the TexAnns a dominant first half lead. McGrath accounted for six points, an assist and a steal over the five-minute TexAnn run while Meagan O'Dell, Ikeapku Iwobi, Kathy Thomas and Breanna Fuller accounted for the other 12 points of the run.
 
Tarleton would eventually stretch the lead to as many as 16 with 11:20 left in the opening half before Angelo State made its run. The Rambelles went on a six-minute run to pull within one possession at 31-28 with 5:30 left in the half, but a pair of free throws from Travanti Downes and back-to-back 3-pointers from Bailey Wipff and McGrath pushed the lead back to 11.
 
A half-court miracle swish from Angelo State was the only difference in Tarleton heading into the halftime break with a nine-point lead and a six-point lead. The prayer for Angelo State gave Tarleton a 47-41 lead at halftime.
 
After Angelo State pulled within six at 17:29 of the new half, but Iwobi got the TexAnn offense rolling with three straight points to push the Tarleton lead back to nine with 54-45. The Iwobi points started a 14-5 run that gave Tarleton a 65-50 lead with 11 minutes to go.
 
From there, the TexAnns kept a double-digit distance over the next 10 minutes until Angelo State pulled within seven with 56 seconds left but three free throws from McGrath sealed the win for Tarleton State.
 
"I was hoping that we were going to be the smarter team and keep our composure down the stretch," said Wilson. "We had a couple of lapses but overall we did a good job of playing under control."
 
McGrath poured in 19 points, including 16 points in the first half. The junior guard was 6-13 from the field and 5-6 from the free throw line to go along with four assists, three steals and a pair of rebounds.
 
"Raven did what we know Raven can do every night," said Wilson. "I had a conversation with her earlier and we talked about the scripture in 1 Corinthians 12 about the body and its many parts. I think she's been trying to be something she wasn't and I told her that we want her to just be Raven because we love Raven."
 
Thomas and Fuller each cracked double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively, while Iwobi just missed a double-double with nine points and 13 rebounds.
 
Every TexAnn who played in the game scored a point including Wipff (8), Downes (6), Moore (6), Averie Mack (5), O'Dell (3) and Morgan Ashmore (3). The TexAnns, as a team, were 24-53 from the field for a shooting percentage of .453 and 7-17 from beyond the arc for a percentage of .412 and got 32 points off the bench.
 
"Our bench is going to be our strength down the stretch," said Wilson. "We never have a let up in our intensity and our depth is really going to help us this year."
 
Tarleton also outscored the Rambelles 33-15 off turnovers, which the TexAnns also dominated by forcing 23 Angelo turnovers and committing just 14.
 
The TexAnns will return to action Saturday night in Stephenville when they host Texas A&M-Kingsville at 5 p.m. in Wisdom Gym. It will be the TexAnns' first game at Wisdom Gym since December 2 against Arlington Baptist.