OREM, Utah – Tarleton State couldn't miss in the first half, but they couldn't maintain that hot shooting all night in their loss at Utah Valley 73-66.
 
The Texans (9-19, 6-13 WAC) led 39-35 at halftime thanks to a 13-of-21 (.619) clip from the field, 3-of-5 (.600) from distance and 10-of-10 from the free throw line. That flipped in the second half, as they shot 7-of-22 (.318) from the field and 1-of-6 (.167) from distance. The Wolverines (10-18, 5-14 WAC) took advantage and won at UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday night to keep their WAC Tournament hopes alive.
 
Tarleton State is still in great shape to make the WAC Tournament. The Texans are tied-seventh in the WAC standings as of the completion of Thursday night's games, and with the current head-to-head tiebreaker against Seattle U, the Redhawks hold the No. 7 seed and Tarleton the No. 8 seed. Those two teams square off in the regular season finale on Saturday in Seattle. The winner of that game will be the No. 7 seed in the WAC Tournament, and the loser may be the No. 8 seed or be done for the season.
 
Looking at the other teams in the mix, Southern Utah, UTRGV and Utah Valley are all tied for ninth in the standings at 5-14, a game back of Tarleton and Seattle U. Southern Utah and UTRGV play each other on Saturday, and Utah Valley hosts Abilene Christian. There are eight scenarios that can play out on Saturday between the five teams fighting for two spots, and unless there are extreme swings in the WAC Resume Seeding System due to other results across the country, Tarleton clinches a spot in the WAC Tournament in seven of the eight scenarios. Scenario 1; Tarleton wins, Southern Utah wins and Utah Valley wins, Tarleton would be No. 7, Southern Utah would be No. 8. Scenario 2; Tarleton wins, Southern Utah wins, Utah Valley loses, Tarleton would be No. 7, Southern Utah would be No. 8. Scenario 3; Tarleton wins, UTRGV wins, Utah Valley wins, Tarleton would be No. 7, Utah Valley would be No. 8. Scenario 4; Tarleton wins, UTRGV wins, Utah Valley loses, Tarleton would be No. 7, UTRGV would be No. 8. Scenario 5; Seattle U wins, Southern Utah wins, Utah Valley wins, Seattle U would be No. 7, Tarleton would be No. 8. Scenario 6; Seattle U wins, Southern Utah wins, Utah Valley loses, Seattle U would be No. 7, Tarleton would be No. 8. Scenario 7; Seattle U wins, UTRGV wins, Utah Valley wins, Seattle U would be No. 7, Utah Valley would be No. 8. Scenario 8; Seattle U wins, UTRGV wins, Utah Valley loses, Seattle U would be No. 7, Tarleton would be No. 8.
 
Essentially, the only scenario the Texans won't earn a spot in the WAC Tournament is if they lose on Saturday, UTRGV beats Southern Utah and Utah Valley beats Abilene Christian.
 
Now, back to Thursday's game.
 
The Wolverines outshot the Texans overall 24-of-49 (.490) to 20-of-43 (.465), and made six more threes, draining 10-of-15 (.667) from outside to 4-of-11 (.364) by Tarleton. The Texans made their first 20 free throws of the game, finishing 22-of-24 (.917) from the stripe to Utah Valley's 15-of-21 (.714) mark.
 
Overall, these two teams were fairly even across the board, with five lead changes and four ties throughout. The largest lead for each team was seven points, Utah Valley held a slim rebounding advantage 26-24 and had one fewer turnover, 18-17. The 18 turnovers by the Texans comes after they had only 16 over their last two games combined.
 
Utah Valley started up 11-4 midway through the first quarter, and Tarleton responded with six straight. The Texans led 19-18 after the first quarter. In the second frame, the Texans took their largest lead of seven multiple times in the middle of the quarter, leading 39-35 at the break. The Wolverines opened the third quarter with a 9-2 run to lead 44-41, and they maintained a lead the remainder of the frame, headed to the fourth up 53-50. Utah Valley actually maintained that lead the remainder of the game, with Tarleton down by just a couple of possessions most of the way.
 
Tarleton had four score in double figures, three with 12 and one with 11. Elise Turrubiates tallied 12 points (8-8 FT), five rebounds, three assists and a tied-career-high five steals. Jakoriah Long totaled 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Teresa Da Silva led the bench with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 2-of-3 from deep, adding two assists in 20 minutes. Miannah Little had 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting.
 
Utah Valley's Tahlia White had a game-high 25 points (8-16 FG, 5-8 3PT, 4-4 FT), adding four steals and two blocks. Ally Criddle finished with 11 points (4-6 FG), seven assists and three rebounds. Kylee Mabry had 11 points (4-7 FG), and Eleyana Tafisi just missed a double-double, recording nine points and 10 assists, along with six turnovers.
 
Tarleton now heads to Seattle U for their regular season finale against the Redhawks on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT.