DENTON – Despite a relentless effort, Tarleton couldn't overcome an eight-point, first-quarter deficit and the TexAnns dropped its Lone Star Conference opener at Kitty Magee Arena 72-62 to Texas Woman's Thursday night.
 
"I thought our girls showed a lot of fight," said head coach Misty Wilson. "They just made a few more shots than we did. We forced 30 turnovers – and when you force 30 turnovers, I feel like you should win the game – but we didn't do a good job of capitalizing on those turnovers. We have girls like Bailey (Wipff), Raven (McGrath), and Meagan (O'Dell) who are going to fight every single night, and I would certainly rather have girls with fight on the floor than ones with no fight."
 
Wipff put on a dominant performance in the loss, going for a season-high 20 points on 7-11 shooting from the floor and 4-6 from downtown. She also added three rebounds and a season-best five steals.
 
Meanwhile, McGrath and O'Dell also cracked double figures with 10 points each.
 
Tarleton struggled out of the gate and fell behind 20-12 in the opening quarter, but O'Dell got the scoring started with a layup to start an 8-2 TexAnn run to pull within a bucket at 22-20 with six minutes left in the first half.
 
The TexAnns stayed within two possessions over the rest of the quarter, but were unable to get closer than two points and ultimately went into halftime trailing 32-28.
 
Out of the break, Texas Woman's pulled away with an 8-2 run of its own to extend the lead back to double figures at 40-30 in the opening three minutes of the new half.  Tarleton continued to battle as the TexAnns pulled within a two-possession game at 66-60 with two minutes left in the fourth quarter, but they could get no closer en route to the final score.
 
As a team, the TexAnns connected on just 32 percent shooting from the floor, including 29 percent from downtown. Tarleton lost the battle on the boards 51-34 with Ikpeaku Iwobi leading the rebounding effort with eight. Catherine Okwilagwe came off the bench to grab six rebounds off the bench.
 
Behind the trio of double-figure scorers for Tarleton was Okwilagwe with six points while Iwobi (5), Travanti Downes (4), and Breanna Fuller (4) combined for 13 points. Averie Mack rounded out the TexAnn scoring with three points.
 
Tarleton will return to action Saturday night when the TexAnns return home for a 5 p.m. showdown against Cameron in Wisdom Gym. Tarleton Athletics will be accepting donations of clothes, blankets, diapers, toiletries, etc. to donate to the victims of the recent Texas Tornadoes. Anyone who brings donation items will receive free admission to the game.