ST. GEORGE, Utah – After seeing a three-point barrage by Utah Tech in the first half, Tarleton allowed just four points by the Trailblazers in the third quarter to stay in Thursday's contest, but the home team ran away with it late for a 70-44 win.
 
The Texans (7-12, 1-7 WAC) lost their third straight and nine of their last 10, this time at the hands of Utah Tech (13-6, 5-3 WAC) at Burns Arena in St. George, Utah.
 
Already low in available post presence, Tarleton was hit with another blow early, losing yet another "big" when Elise Turrubiates went down in the second minute of the game with an injury and didn't return. The Texans were forced to play small almost the entirety of the game, especially with their last remaining frontcourt player fighting foul trouble all night in Nyajah Mitchels.
 
Mayra Caicedo nailed a three-pointer two minutes in to give Tarleton a 3-2 lead, which ended up being the Texans' lone lead of the game. A 5-5 knotted score was erased by an 8-0 Utah Tech run that turned into a 16-5 sprint to end the first quarter at 21-10. The Trailblazers led by as many as 19 in the second quarter and entered halftime up 18 at 41-23 thanks to 10 three-point makes over the first 20 minutes. Tarleton shot 9-of-31 (.290) in the first half compared to a 14-of-28 (.500) clip by Utah Tech, 10-of-23 (.435) from distance.
 
Tarleton turned up the pressure in the third quarter, forcing eight Utah Tech turnovers, a 2-of-10 (.200) clip from the field and zero three-point makes to stay in it. The Texans outscored the Trailblazers 12-4 in the frame to trail by just 10 entering the fourth, 45-35.
 
After Teresa Da Silva's jumper cut Tarleton's deficit to nine at the 7:47 mark, Utah Tech's offense returned in a flurry, ending the game on a 21-4 run to win by 26.
 
It was a quick contest, not even 100 minutes long, as officials called just 15 combined fouls that sent both squads to the free throw line a combined seven times.
 
Tarleton won the turnover battle, forcing 18 while giving it away 15 times, but the Texans scored just four points off of the 18 chances, while the Trailblazers scored 26 off of Tarleton's miscues. Utah Tech also outshot Tarleton 26-of-52 (.500) to 17-of-59 (.288), outshot them from distance 15-of-33 (.455) to 8-of-29 (.276) and outrebounded them 42-27.
 
Despite playing just 18 minutes due to her four fouls, Mitchels had a team-high 12 points, adding three rebounds off the bench. Da Silva tallied 11 points, four rebounds and two steals. Jenna Dick made three three-pointers for nine points, adding three rebounds.
 
Utah Tech was led by Emily Isaacson's 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 6-of-9 from deep, to go with three steals in 40 minutes of action. Brooke Vance recorded a double-double (14 points, 6-11 FG, 11 rebounds, three steals), while Maggie McCord (14 points, 5-7 FG, 4-6 3PT, nine rebounds) and Breaunna Gillen (11 points, nine assists, six rebounds) just missed out on theirs.
 
Tarleton will stay in Utah and head down the road to Cedar City to play at the Southern Utah Thunderbirds on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT. SUU is 7-0 in WAC play and 11-7 overall.