Tarleton State Women’s Basketball ready for Purple Out Game Thursday night at EECU Center

STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Purple Thursday will spread inside the EECU Center at 7 p.m., with Tarleton State Women's Basketball hosting its annual "Purple Out" game against Southern Utah.

The Texans begin a three-game homestand on Thursday and will play in its brand-new, state of the art EECU Center for the first time in 2026. Early arriving fans will receive a free purple Tarleton State Basketball t-shirt while supplies last.

Tickets start at just $9 and can be purchased at TarletonSports.com/Tickets. Students receive free admission to all Tarleton State home events.

The Texans defeated the Thunderbirds in last year's WAC Quarterfinals to advance to their first conference final four in the Division I era. Southern Utah is currently tied for second in the WAC standings with a 3-1 start in conference play. Ava Uhrich was named WAC Player of the Week on Monday, her second weekly honor of the season.

Fans unable to attend in person can watch the game on ESPN+ and also listen to Clayton Neville's radio call on Tarleton Sports Network.

BALLIN BRACKENS

Shadaisa Brackens earned her and the team's first weekly award of the season on Dec. 23, being named Western Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Week.
Brackens has reached six double-doubles faster than any Texan since 2016-17. She is the first Texan since Mackenzie Hailey to have at least six double-doubles through 13 games (7).
Brackens recently scored a career-high 21 points to go with nine rebounds at ACU (1/8). She was one rebound shy of her seventh double-double of the season.
The former North Texas forward has been an immediate contributor in her first season with the Texans. Brackens has the most double-doubles on the team and currently leads Tarleton State in rebounding.
Prior to her arrival in Stephenville, Brackens played 51 career games for North Texas and scored 143 points to go with 82 rebounds.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Tarleton State Women's Basketball welcomes 12 newcomers on its 15-player roster in 2025-26. The Texans have the seventh-most newcomers in all NCAA Division I Women's Basketball.
The Texans have four Division I transfers, one Division II transfer, a pair of junior college transfers and four freshmen.
Tarleton State replaced eight seniors from 2024-25.
Five transfers (Tessa Engelman, Jailynn Brill, Gia Adams, Shadasia Brackens, and Caroline Lyles) all have previous experience in DI.

STARTING STRONG

All five starters (Gia Adams, Jakoriah Long, Kyriana Jones, Shadasia Brackens and Elodie Lutbert) have accounted for the majority of Tarleton State's scoring this season.
When those five start, the starters have scored 77.8% of the Texans' points. Tarleton State has a 6-3 overall record with that starting five combination.
This starting five combo accounted for 95% of the team's scoring at ACU (1/8). They scored 55 of the Texans' 59 points.
All five starters scored in double figures in back-to-back games on Dec. 2-7 (at Mississippi Valley State, vs. Texas A&M-San Antonio). It was the first time in the Division I era where all five starters scored 10+ points each in two consecutive games.
The last time the same Tarleton State starters all scored 10+ points in two consecutive games was Feb. 16-18, 1989.