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Tarleton State University Athletics

BrackensMVSURecap
Avery Golden
66
Winner Tarleton St. TSU 4-4,0-0 WAC
50
Mississippi Val. MVSU 1-5,0-0 SWAC
Winner
Tarleton St. TSU
4-4,0-0 WAC
66
Final
50
Mississippi Val. MVSU
1-5,0-0 SWAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Tarleton St. TSU 21 23 7 15 66
Mississippi Val. MVSU 8 2 23 17 50

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Grant Cohen

Tarleton State Women’s Basketball picks up second straight road win with victory at Mississippi Valley State

ITTA BENA, Miss. – Tarleton State Women's Basketball came out of the R.W. Harrison HPER Complex with what they were looking for, collecting its second straight road win of the season with a 66-50 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday night. 

The Texans dominated the first half of action, going on a 30-0 scoring run while holding Mississippi Valley State to just 10 points in the first 20 minutes. Mississippi Valley State cut the deficit to as close to 10 in the second half, but Tarleton State's lead was too much for the Devilettes to overcome. 

Head coach Bill Brock did not travel with the team due to a family medical emergency. Associate Head Coach Geoff Golden led the Texans on Tuesday. 

All five starters scored in double figures, with senior guard Jakoriah Long leading the way with a season-high 16 points. Freshman center Elodie Lutbert recorded her second straight double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds while senior guards Gia Adams, Kyriana Jones and junior forward Shadasia Brackens added 11 points each. Brackens tallied her third double-double of the season by grabbing 11 rebounds in Tuesday's game. 

"It was a tale of two halves for sure, but we're grateful to get a win on the road. We'll take it," Golden said. "We had a tremendous first half. We played with a lot of energy and we made some shots. We challenged them with a few things at halftime, but we didn't come out and execute it in the second half. We hit some adversity in the second half, but found a way to overcome it."

Mississippi Valley State took the early first quarter lead, but back-to-back baskets allowed Tarleton State to take advantage. Two straight 3-pointers allowed the Texans to stretch the early lead before the Devilettes responded with a bucket with less than two minutes to play in the first quarter. 

Mississippi Valley State's basket at the 1:46 mark in the first quarter ignited the biggest scoring run of the season thus far for the Texans. The Texans' 30 unanswered points began with five straight free throws capped off by Adams beating the buzzer to give Tarleton State a 21-8 advantage. 

Adams and Brackens kept the Texans' offense rolling, with a putback lay-in from Lutbert pushing Tarleton State out in front by 20. After the posts went to work, it was the guards' turn to keep the offense rolling. Long and Adams combined for the next eight points before senior guard Luka Malinka found junior forward Allie Myers for a fastbreak layup to put the Texans ahead 44-8. 

A Mississippi Valley State jumper with 58 seconds left in the second quarter ended the Texans' offensive run in the first half. Tarleton State shot 40.5% from the floor in the first half while holding Mississippi Valley State to just 15% shooting to take a 34-point lead into the locker room. 

Mississippi Valley State refused to quit, turning up the defensive pressure in the second half in an attempt to cut the deficit. The Devilettes outscored the Texans 23-7 in the third quarter to trim the Texans' lead with 10 minutes to play. 

Following a Mississippi Valley State jumper that cut the deficit to 10 points, a former Devilette lifted her new team. Jones, who played at Mississippi Valley State from 2022-23, scored two straight baskets to put the Texans in front by 16 with two minutes left. The Texans scored on four of their last five trips down the floor to seal the double-digit victory. 

Tarleton State returns to Stephenville on Sunday to take on Texas A&M-San Antonio at the EECU Center at 2 p.m. The game is part of a basketball doubleheader with the men's team and fans who bring in one unwrapped toy to the Tarleton State Ticket Office will receive free admission to the game. All toys will be donated to the Stephenville Optimist Club. 

Postgame Notes
  • Tarleton State won its second straight road game of the season, defeating Mississippi Valley State 66-50 on Tuesday night at the R.W. Harrison HPER Complex. This was the first meeting between the two schools in women's basketball. 
  • Head coach Bill Brock did not travel with the team due to a family medical emergency. Associate head coach Geoff Golden led the team on Tuesday. 
  • The Texans allowed just eight first quarter points and two second quarter points to Mississippi Valley State. Tarleton State has held the opposition to single digits in six quarters this season. 
  • Tarleton State went on a 30-0 scoring run in the first half. The run lasted 10 minutes and 12 seconds, with MVSU scoring its lone basket of the second quarter with 58 seconds to play in the half. 
  • Senior guard Jakoriah Long led all scorers with 16 points and played all 40 minutes. It was her highest scoring performance since March 5, 2025. 
  • Senior guard/forward Kyriana Jones, a former Mississippi Valley State player, scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds in her return to Itta Bena. Jones played for the Devilettes from 2022-23. 
  • Junior forward Shadasia Brackens (11 pts, 11 reb) and freshman center Elodie Lutbert (12 pts, 10 reb) each had a double-double for the second straight game. It is the first time in the Division I era a Texan duo produced back-to-back double-doubles in the same games. The last Texan to have two consecutive games with a double-double was Seynabou Thiam (Jan. 20-22, 2022). 
  • Brackens collected her third double-double of the season on Tuesday. She is the first Texan in the Division I era to have three double-doubles through the first eight games.
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