KINGSVILLE – Less than 48 hours and 370 miles removed from taking the No. 5 team in the nation into overtime, Tarleton refused to let anything keep them down in a thrilling 62-59 overtime victory at Texas A&M-Kingsville Saturday afternoon.
"It's never easy to win on the road, especially against a Lone Star Conference team," said head coach
Misty Wilson. "This is not an easy environment to play in, but I though our girls responded really well to a very physical game."
After
Ikpeaku Iwobi knotted up the score at 49-49 with 15 seconds to go, seemingly forcing an overtime period, the Javelinas answered on the offensive end with a 3-ball with eight seconds left to put the TexAnns in a 52-49 hole.
The only problem –
Mackenzie Hailey wasn't ready to go home yet.
After a timeout, Tarleton's
Kylie Collins inbounded the ball into Hailey who drilled a heavily contested 3-ball to force the TexAnns' second overtime game in three days before being mobbed by her teammates on the court.
"It's kind of funny because
Bailey Wipff's girl actually came over to double-team (Hailey) so Bailey was standing wide open," said Wilson. "We figured they would try to take Bailey away and it looked like Mack was getting ready to make one more pass, but she got a shot off and it was a great shot."
Hailey, who finished the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds, scored 11 of her team high 18 points in the second half and overtime. She was 7-18 shooting for the game, including 2-5 from downtown, in 33 minutes of game action.
Kingsville jumped out with four quick points in the overtime period to take a 56-52 lead before a jumper from
Travanti Downes and a pair of free throws from
Kylie Collins tied the game up at 56-56 with 2:36 left in the game. Kingsville answered with a 3-ball on the ensuing possession before Hailey and Collins put the game away for the TexAnns.
Hailey hit a layup to pull Tarleton within one before Collins came away with a steal and a 3-ball on the other end for a 61-8 Tarleton lead. Downes blocked a Kingsville shot on the next defensive possession before Hailey scored Tarleton's final point on the free throw line. The TexAnn defense forced a long 3-point attempt by Kingsville as time expired, which went a bit too long and bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
The game was a back-and-forth affair all night, beginning with a first half that saw the TexAnns take a 28-22 lead into the break. Neither team was able to pull away in the third as Kingsville edged out Tarleton 9-6 in the third quarter and again 21-18 in the fourth quarter before Tarleton answered to win the overtime period 10-7.
Ikpeaku Iwobi also cracked double figures for Tarleton with 10 points and seven rebounds while Wipff scored nine points for the TexAnns. Downes (8),
Shelby Mankins (6), Collins (5),
Tiara Tatum (2),
Baylee Peck (2), and
Trejouir Wilson (2) rounded out the scoring for Tarleton.
The TexAnns will return home Tuesday night for a league showdown with Texas A&M-Commerce at 5:30 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.
