STEPHENVILLE – Saturday night in Wisdom Gym couldn't have been scripted any better if it was ready to be turned into a major motion picture.
 
Let's set the scene.
 
Tarleton comes into the game riding a six-game winning streak, needing all the wins they can get the rest of the way in hopes of jumping into the national playoff picture, takes the floor against the top team in the Lone Star Conference standings, who just happens to be ranked No. 9 in the country with a record of 23-2.
 
No worries, right? Right.
 
In the final home game for Tarleton seniors Breanna Fuller, Meagan O'Dell, Raven McGrath, and Morgan Ashmore, the seniors said farewell to Wisdom Gym in style by coming back from a 13-point halftime deficit and adding a little poetry to the end of the game by sealing the deal with a defensive stop at the buzzer for a 53-52 win.
 
The poetry comes in knowing that Sasha Watson, the preseason LSC Player of the Year, took the ball in the final seconds of the meeting in Canyon last month and hit a running jumper as time expired to force overtime, in which West Texas A&M handed Tarleton a loss.
 
That loss, by the way, happened to be the last loss for Tarleton, who has since won seven straight including Saturday night in Wisdom.
 
Watson was called upon once again with eight seconds left in the game and Tarleton leading 53-52, and this time Tarleton forced a miss as time expired to get the Wisdom Gym crowd on their feet with a thrilling victory.
 
"I really wanted to send our seniors out on the right note in their last game at Wisdom Gym," said head coach Misty Wilson. "They have meant so much to our program and me individually. I can't think of a better way for their last home game to go other than a win like this over the No. 9 ranked team in the country. They all had a huge part in this win and they deserve it."
 
The game began in a low-scoring affair as the first quarter ended with the Lady Buffs on top 9-8 before West Texas A&M outscored Tarleton 22-10 in the second quarter to take a 31-18 lead into halftime.
 
Out of the break came a brand new TexAnn squad, who shot 80-percent from the floor in the third quarter as they outscored WT 25-13 to cut the deficit to just one at 44-43 entering the final quarter. The defense returned in the fourth as Tarleton held the Lady Buffs to just eight points in the final quarter and outscored them 10-8 to secure the win.
 
"We made a few offensive adjustments (at halftime), but mostly I just told them that they were being selfish on defense and if we wanted back in this game, then they needed to pick up the intensity on the defensive end," said Wilson. "Obviously, they responded very well."
 
Tarleton, who won the turnover battle for the game 19-21, committed just seven in the second half of the game. The TexAnns shot .512 from the floor and .500 from downtown for the game.
 
Morgan Ashmore led the way with 11 points and four assists, including three 3-pointers in the third quarter, while Fuller led Tarleton with five rebounds and also cracked double figures with 10 points. Bailey Wipff scored eight while Tiara Tatum added seven.
 
Ikpeaku Iwobi (6), McGrath (5), O'Dell (4), and Catherine Okwilagwe (2) rounded out the scoring for Tarleton.
 
Tarleton will return to action next Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. in Commerce for the regular season finale against the Lions.