ST. GEORGE, Utah – After a first half of runs with Tarleton State down just four at the break, the Texans were outscored 28-7 in the third quarter to snuff their chances at Utah Tech on Saturday afternoon. The Texans dropped the road contest against the Trailblazers 75-48 to split their first of two trips to Utah.
The Texans (5-13, 2-7 WAC) had a tough day shooting in a game with virtually no whistles. They shot 18-of-72 (.250) from the field, including 7-of-37 (.189) from beyond the arc. They were perfect from the free throw line, but had just five attempts. The same went for the Trailblazers (11-9, 5-4 WAC), who went 6-for-6 from the stripe, as there were just 12 combined fouls at Burns Arena in St. George. Utah Tech made 29-of-62 (.468) from the field, 11-of-36 (.306) from distance.
The Trailblazers got off to a hot start, going on a 7-0 run after
Jakoriah Long drained Tarleton's first bucket from deep, taking an 11-3 lead. The Trailblazers led 17-8 with a couple minutes left before
Miannah Little hit one from outside to put the Texans down by just six entering the second, 17-11.
The Little three was the start of an 8-0 run that bled into the second quarter, continued by a
Lexi Bull layup and
Teresa Da Silva three-ball. After it was a one-point game less than a minute into the frame, the Trailblazers responded with a 7-0 run. It was back and forth the rest of the quarter, with a Da Silva three-pointer with 30 ticks remaining making it 31-27 at the break.
A minute into the third, Little had an and-one to put the Texans behind by just three, 33-30. It was all Utah Tech from there, who went on a 14-0 run to lead by 17 just three minutes later. They didn't allow the Texans to score over the final 4:41 of the third and Utah Tech took a 25-point lead entering the fourth, 59-34. They made 11-of-13 (.846) from the field and 4-of-6 (.667) from distance in the quarter compared to Tarleton's 2-of-19 (.105) clip, 0-of-8 from three.
Utah Tech led by as many as 31 in the fourth, winning by 27.
Da Silva had a team-high 13 points to go with three rebounds. Long tallied 12 points, four rebounds and four assists. Little led the bench with 10 points, to go with five boards.
Utah Tech's Maddie Warren had a game-high 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-9 from distance, adding seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks. The Trailblazers' season leader in nearly every category returned from a two-game absence to record 22 points (8-13 FG, 6-6 FT), 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
The Texans now return to Stephenville, where they'll host rival Abilene Christian on Thursday at 7 p.m. It will be Rodeo Night at Wisdom Gym, as Tarleton Athletics will give away free Tarleton purple bandanas.
