STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton suffered its second loss in as many games to open the season Saturday night as a late third quarter run proved too much to overcome in a 65-53 loss to St. Mary's in Wisdom Gym.
This marks the first time since the 2011-12 season that the TexAnns were defeated in each of the year's first two games. Tarleton rebounded that year by going on to win their first Lone Star Conference championship. It's also the first time since 1994 that Tarleton has lost its first two games of the season at home.
Tarleton came out firing as the TexAnns jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the opening two minutes and kept things tight through opening quarter. St. Mary's came back to take a one-point lead in the final minute, but a layup from
Travanti Downes and a offensive put-back by
Ikpeaku Iwobi gave the TexAnns a 16-13 lead after the opening quarter.
Tarleton pushed its lead to as many as five in the second quarter but the Rattlers answered back to lead by four at halftime. In the new half, St. Mary's pushed the lead to six before a three-ball from
Bailey Wipff started an 8-2 TexAnn run that tied things up at 41-41 with 3:47 left in the third.
St. Mary's scored eight unanswered over the next two minutes to pull away and Tarleton was only able to claw back within four points in the fourth quarter.
Bailey Wipff led Tarleton in scoring with 16 points while
Mackenzie Hailey also cracked double digits with 10 to go along with five rebounds.
Ikpeaku Iwobi led all players with 11 rebounds and just missed a double-double with eight points.
Tiara Tatum added nine points for Tarleton while
Travanti Downes (4),
Kylie Collins (2),
Trejouir Wilson (2), and
Shelby Mankins (2) rounded out the scoring for Tarleton. The TexAnns shot .352 from the floor and .200 from downtown, which trailed St. Mary's in both areas of shooting.
The TexAnns will hit the road in search of their first victory next weekend as Tarleton makes the trek to Pueblo, Colorado for more tournament action, beginning Friday at 4 p.m. CST against Western State.
