STEPHENVILLE – For the second time in her Tarleton career
Ikpeaku Iwobi has gone for a double-double in three straight games and Saturday's effort was enough to put the TexAnns back in the win column with a 66-54 win over Texas Wesleyan.
Iwobi scored 14 points on 6-1 shooting from the floor and 2-2 shooting from the free throw line to go along with 11 rebounds – six on the offensive glass – to lead the TexAnns.
Averie Mack added a career-high 10 points off the bench for Tarleton as the only other TexAnn to reach double figures.
Tarleton came out swinging for a 14-6 lead over the opening five minutes, but the Rams battled back to pull within two points in the final two minutes of the opening quarter. Over the rest of the first quarter and the entire second quarter, the teams battled and Tarleton maintained a lead over the entire first half – stretching the lead to as large as seven in the second half.
Out of the break, Texas Wesleyan opened the new half on a 6-0 run to take its first lead of the night and carried the advantage into the final two minutes of the third quarter before a three-ball from
Meagan O'Dell put Tarleton back on top late in the third.
Texas Wesleyan tied the game at 45-45 on a free throw to open the fourth quarter before the TexAnns responded with 10 unanswered points to take control of the game. A layup from Iwobi capped off the run to put Tarleton on top 55-45 with 4:38 left. Tarleton pushed the lead to as many as 11 before the final buzzer sounded at 66-54.
The TexAnns improved their shooting from the floor by over 20 percent in the second half after going 27 percent in the opening half and 48.0 in the second. Tarleton also forced 23 turnovers and the TexAnn bench outscored the Ram bench 24-4.
Behind Iwobi and Mack, Tarleton got eight points each from
Raven McGrath and
Travanti Downes, who added six boards, and seven from
Morgan Ashmore.
Bailey Wipff (5), O'Dell (5),
Nia Jackson (5), and
Tiara Tatum (4) rounded out the scoring.
Tarleton will return to action Tuesday night on the road when the TexAnns visit Laredo for a 5:30 p.m. contest against Texas A&M International.