ABILENE, Texas – After a tough start, the Texans climbed their way back into their rivalry matchup against Abilene Christian, but the Wildcats forced a tough shooting night overall for Tarleton State and avoided fouling, taking Thursday night's game 73-51.
The Texans (4-11, 1-5 WAC) have a tied-season-long skid of four games after losing in Abilene, Texas, dropping to 3-6 on the road this year. The Wildcats (8-7, 4-2 WAC) improved to 6-3 at Moody Coliseum.
ACU was whistled for just seven fouls in the game, which led to a season-low four free throw attempts for the Texans, who made all four. The Wildcats got to the line 14 times (10-14) on 13 Texan fouls, and outshot Tarleton from the field 27-of-58 (.466) to 19-of-65 (.292). The Texans won the turnover battle, forcing 17 takeaways to 11 giveaways, but ACU pounded the boards 49-29 and outscored Tarleton in the paint 34-18.
Tarleton's
Teresa Maggio had a team-high, and career-high, 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting (3-4 3PT) off the bench.
Jakoriah Long chipped in nine points,
Karyn Sanford (2-4 3PT) eight points, and
Lexi Bull finished with six points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks in 18 minutes.
ACU jumped out to a 15-2 start six minutes into the game. Tarleton fought back to within nine thanks to a Bull buzzer-beating jumper, with ACU leading 20-11 after one. The Texans then cut the deficit to one nearly three minutes into the second quarter, 23-22. ACU got back the nine-point lead at the break, 36-27.
The Wildcats took control of the second half early, part of a 13-3 run carried over from the second quarter, to go up 13, 40-27, 24 seconds into the third. After some back-and-forth, ACU led by 13 after three, 55-42. Tarleton remained as close as 13 back in the fourth, but the Wildcats stayed at arm's length and ended the game on an 8-0 run to win by 22.
ACU had five reach double-digit scoring, powered by Bella Earle, who finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Payton Hull (12 points, seven rebounds), Aspen Thornton (11 points, three rebounds), Zoe Jackson (11 points, three rebounds) and Emma Troxell (11 points) also scored 10-plus points, while Meredith Mayes (nine points, nine rebounds, three assists) flirted with a double-double.
The Texans will return home for a Saturday afternoon contest against UTRGV. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. on Alumni Day at Wisdom Gym. This is the second of two matchups between Tarleton State and UTRGV this season. The Texans won in Edinburg on Dec. 2, 72-66.
