KINGSVILLE – Tarleton used a 29-point fourth quarter to come back and defeat Texas A&M-Kingsville 68-55 and give the TexAnns its second straight Lone Star Conference win.
 
Tarleton (8-6, 2-2) knew playing on the road at Texas A&M-Kingsville (5-7, 0-2) would be a tough environment and that proved to be the case early as the TexAnns faced a 14-point deficit with 6:34 left in the second quarter.
 
The TexAnns hit three straight 3-pointers – two by Bailey Wipff and one by Raven McGrath – that was a part of a 13-0 run to make it a 22-21 TAMUK lead with 3:41 left in the first half. Wipff posted a game-high 20 points and had three steals. Wipff came in averaging 20 points per game in conference play.
 
Tarleton outscored the Javelinas 17-12 in the second quarter but the Javelinas led 28-25 at the half.
 
Breanna Fuller's layup gave Tarleton the lead at 33-32 with 4:21 left in the third quarter. It was Tarleton's first lead since the TexAnns were on top 7-5 in the first quarter. Fuller finished with six points and six rebounds, including three offensive boards.
 
With the TexAnns trailing 45-42 in the fourth quarter, Tarleton used a 13-2 run to pull ahead for good. Wipff and Meagan O'Dell hit 3-pointers during the run and McGrath had four points to push the TexAnns ahead. McGrath finished the game with seven points, a season-high four steals, three rebounds and three assists.
 
O'Dell scored nine of her 10 points in the second half. In the final 12 minutes of the game, she shot 2-of-3 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. It's the second straight double-digit scoring effort for the senior.
 
The TexAnns closed out the game at the free-throw line, converting on 10 of the 12 shots with all coming in the final 2:33 of the fourth quarter. Tarleton went 18-of-26 from the line for the game.
The TexAnns also improved their shooting in every quarter of the game: 15 percent in the first quarter, 40 percent in the second, 41 percent in the third and 57 percent in the fourth. The TexAnns limited the Javelinas to 31 percent shooting in the fourth quarter.
 
Morgan Ashmore posted six points, five assists and four rebounds for the TexAnns. Ikpeaku Iwobi had six points and seven rebounds along with a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
 
This marked the 12^th consecutive win for the TexAnns over the Javelinas dating back to 2010.
 
Tarleton will travel to Wichita Falls to take on Midwestern State for their next game on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 5:30 p.m.