STEPHENVILLE – In their second game in less than 24 hours, Tarleton State's toughness was on full display as the TexAnns fought to win an 82-76 overtime thriller against Texas Woman's at Wisdom Gym Sunday afternoon.
 
After battling it out to the tune of a 67-67 tie at the end of regulation, the teams kept the seesaw battle going over the first three minutes of regulation as the game stayed even at 71-71 with two minutes to go.
 
Raven McGrath, who is coming off a career-high 22-point performance at Texas A&M-Commerce last night, drove the lane for a layup and converted an and-one to give the TexAnns their biggest lead since the 6:24 mark of the second half. The junior guard went to the charity stripe two possessions later and drilled her free throws to extend the lead to five at 76-71 and all but seal the game for Tarleton.
 
The TexAnns added two free throws from Morgan Ashmore and four from Bailey Wipff down the stretch to secure their 12^th win of the season.
 
Tarleton started the game on fire, beginning with a 3-ball from Bailey Wipff that started a 12-0 run for the TexAnns to open the game with a 12-2 lead over the first 3:49. Tarleton got scoring from five different TexAnns over that game-opening run.
 
Tarleton maintained its lead over the rest of the half, never leading by more than 10 or less than four, and went into halftime with a 35-29 advantage.
 
Out of the break, the Pioneers scored six straight over the first minute to bring the game to its first tie of the game. Tarleton immediately responded with a 9-2 run over the next four minutes – capped off by a 3-ball from Kathy Thomas – to push the lead back to seven with 15:48 left in regulation.
 
Over the next six minute, the Pioneers clawed back and eventually took its first lead since the opening bucket on a 3-ball with 9:29 left to play. From there, it was a back-and-forth affair with nine lead changes and nine different tied scores over the final 9:29 of regulation heading into the extra period.
 
Wipff led the TexAnns with 15 points while McGrath and Iwobi each tallied 12 points. For McGrath, seven of her 12 points came in the overtime period.
 
Thomas and Breanna Fuller each tallied nine while Meagan O'Dell and Morgan Ashmore scored eight and seven off the bench, respectively. Karli Moore (6), Travanti Downes (2) and Averie Mack (2) rounded out the scoring for the TexAnns.
 
Tarleton dominated the glass 51-37, including 23-15 on the offensive boards that led to a 17-10 scoring difference on second-chance points. Moore, Iwobi and Ashmore led the TexAnns with seven rebounds each, marking a new career high for Ashmore.
 
The TexAnns will return to action Wednesday night when they visit D.L. Ligon Coliseum in Wichita Falls Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m.