STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State's return home Thursday night was soured by the WAC's top ranked team, California Baptist. The Texans (4-9, 1-3 WAC) fell to the Lancers (13-1, 5-0 WAC) 89-59 at Wisdom Gym in Stephenville, Texas.
On the same day that Tarleton State's students returned to campus for the spring semester, the Texans returned to Wisdom Gym, their first home game since Dec. 10 and just their second since the end of November. After a 6-0 start by Tarleton and a 12-11 score late in the first, CBU used a 19-0 run from there to take a commanding lead they did not relinquish.
CBU made 15 three-pointers on the night, finishing 15-of-41 (.366), and outscored the Texans in the paint 24-10. The Lancers outshot Tarleton 30-of-72 (.417) to 19-of-59 (.322) and outrebounded them 48-37.
Jakoriah Long led the Texans with a game-high 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, adding five rebounds and three assists.
Karyn Sanford earned her first career collegiate start and tallied 10 points and four rebounds.
Faith Acker had seven points and five rebounds, and
Elise Turrubiates led the bench with seven points and five boards.
On a Purple Out night with Texan fans receiving free shirts and donning the school's signature color, Long had the gym in a frenzy early with a deep shot on the Texans' opening possession, then an and-one on the next to put Tarleton ahead 6-0. CBU responded with a 9-0 run to take a 9-6 lead. When it was 12-11 CBU, they scored seven straight to end the first quarter up 19-11, then the second quarter's first 12 points to lead 31-11 with eight minutes to play. Tarleton kept it about that same deficit the rest of the quarter, cutting it down to 15 before CBU hit a buzzer beating three to end the half, putting the Lancers into the locker room with a 45-27 lead.
CBU held about a 25-30 point lead most of the second half, going up by as many as 31. They led 70-44 after three before winning 89-59.
CBU's Chloe Webb flirted with a triple-double, tallying 11 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Six different Lancers scored in double figures of the eight who played.
The Texans will have to shake this one off quickly, as they next host the WAC's No. 2 ranked team, Grand Canyon, on Saturday at 2 p.m. Tarleton Athletics is giving away free basketball rubber ducks at the game in honor of National Rubber Duck Day.
