STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton women's basketball nearly pulled off its biggest upset of the season on the road against undefeated No. 5 Angelo State, but the TexAnns fell in overtime, 81-74.
The TexAnns (4-7, 3-2) were led by
Mackenzie Hailey's game-high 23 points and also added 11 rebounds.
Bailey Wipff scored 15 points and
Tiara Tatum posted 10 to give the TexAnns three in double figures.
Angelo State (11-0, 5-0) took the early advantage with a 25-16 lead after the first quarter where Tarleton only shot 5-16 from the floor and ASU connected on 10-18 shots.
The Rambelles built a 14-point lead before the TexAnns got back-to-back 3-pointers from Hailey and Wipff to cut the deficit to five with 4:33 left in the first half. Hailey added another 3-pointer with 2:35 remaining to make it a 4-point game before Angelo State ended the half with a 39-32 lead.
Tarleton shot 31 percent in the first half compared to Angelo State's 47 percent. The TexAnns, however, connected on 6-12 3-pointers, all of which came from Hailey and Wipff with three each.
The TexAnns opened the third quarter with an 11-2 run to take their first lead of the game at 50-49 on
Shelby Mankins' corner 3-pointer. Mankins finished with six points and five rebounds.
Travanti Downes' mid-range jump shot sent the TexAnns to the fourth quarter tied with Angelo State at 54.
Ikpeaku Iwobi scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter that gave Tarleton a 56-54 lead. Iwobi finished with nine points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. Downes gave Tarleton its biggest lead at 60-56 with 8:25 remaining. Downes finished with eight points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.
Angelo State erased the deficit and turned it into a 4-point lead of its own at 66-62 with 4:43 to go.
Tiara Tatum – who scored all 10 of her points in the second half – ended the scoring drought with a layup to cut the lead to two and Hailey drained both free throws to tie the game with 14 seconds on the clock. Tarleton had a chance to win the game in regulation on a steal from Wipff but a desperation 3-pointer fell short.
The Rambelles shot 47 percent in the overtime period compared to Tarleton's 36 percent. Hailey scored four points and grabbed four rebounds in overtime but Angelo State went 7-8 from the free-throw line to close the game.
Bailey Peck dished out a team-high five assists for Tarleton and also had two points. Tarleton shot 37 percent in the game and went 9-25 from the 3-point line and 86 percent on free throws.
The TexAnns will travel to Texas A&M-Kingsville to play the Javelinas on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 4 p.m.
