STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton got 44 combined points from Meagan O'Dell, Bailey Wipff, and Raven McGrath, who led the TexAnns to a win in Friday night's season-opening, 91-47 win over Concordia-Irvine at the TexAnn Tip-Off Classic.
 
Concordia-Irvine, who is in its first season as an NCAA Division II team after advancing two rounds deep into the NAIA playoffs last season, found themselves in trouble early against and aggressive Tarleton squad. The TexAnns wasted no time getting on the board with a Morgan Ashmore jumper to kick-start a 13-0 run over the first four minutes of the opening quarter.
 
Tarleton kept the pressure on over the rest of the first quarter and went into the second period of action with a 24-5 lead.
 
In the second quarter, Bailey Wipff got things started with a layup 15 seconds in to start a quick 8-2 surge to open the new period and push the Tarleton lead to 32-7. Tarleton carried it's 25-point advantage into the final two minutes at 44-19 before the Eagles cut the Tarleton lead to 46-24 heading into halftime.
 
Concordia-Irvine cut into the lead to bring it to a 17-point game but could get no closer as Tarleton turned up the heat and pushed the lead to a game-high 44, which turned out to be the final deficit of the night.
 
O'Dell opened her senior season with a career high 16 points on 6-10 shooting from the floor, including a couple of second-half three-pointers to ignite the Wisdom Gym crowd. Meanwhile, McGrath and Wipff also cracked double figures in the opener with 14 points each. McGrath got hers on 6-10 shooting from the floor while Wipff was 6-11 for field goals on the night.
 
Ashmore and Ikpeaku Iwobi just missed double figures with nine and eight points, respectively. Iwobi led the team with 12 rebounds. Tiara Tatum added seven points while Travanti Downes (6), Catherine Okwilagwe (6), Averie Mack (5), Nia Jackson (4), and Karah Sicurella (2) rounded out the scoring for Tarleton.
 
Tarleton was dominant all night in getting to the basket, outscoring the Eagles 54-26 in the paint. The TexAnns forced 23 turnovers and capitalized with 26 points off turnovers, compared to the seven points scored by the Eagles off Tarleton turnovers.
 
The TexAnns shot 53 percent as a team from the floor and were 88 percent while holding the Eagles to just 31 percent from the floor, including 21 percent from downtown on 3-14 shooting.
 
Tarleton will wrap up the third annual TexAnn Tip-Off Classic tomorrow night with a 5 p.m. contest against Texas A&M International, who lost in the tournament opener to Texas A&M-Kingsville Friday afternoon.