- Box Score
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Tarleton TexAnn basketball team led 30-28 at halftime at No. 7 Northeastern State, but the purple and white shot just 22.2 percent from the floor in the second half and lost 68-54.
Tarleton was outscored 40-24 in the second half to fall to 10-2 on the season in the battle of the top two teams in the Lone Star Conference standings. NSU improved to 11-1 with the win after downing the TexAnns.
“We just did not execute well,” said Tarleton head coach Ronnie Hearne. “I was pleased with our defense for most of the game, especially the first half. But we didn't do what we needed to do throughout the whole game. We need to pick up our intensity and run the floor better. We can't let this game get us down. I thought we rebounded well from the Southeastern Oklahoma loss. We need to get pass this and get prepared for our next game.”
The TexAnns scored the first five points with a three by Morgan Stehling and a layup by Shelby Adamson, but the RiverHawks tied the score at five with 16:58 on the clock. Lisa Parker added a jumper at 15:40, but the RiverHawks tied the game and took a 9-7 lead with 13:43 on the clock on a layup by Taylor Lewis. The home team would hold onto the lead and push it to eight with 6:29 remaining in the half.
Two free throws by Adamson, a layup by Kelsey Benford and a Sonya Sundberg bucket cut the lead to 23-21, but a three by Tyler made it 26-21 with 5:02 on the clock. Benford had back-to-back layups to cut the lead to one before Sarah Green had one herself for the home team. With 1:47 on the clock, Stehling hit a three for the TexAnns to tie the game at 28 before a jumper in the paint by Adamson gave Tarleton the 30-28 lead at the break.
Adamson had two free throws to increase the lead to four (32-28) before Cristy Nitz and Tosha Tyler scored for the home team to tie the score at 32. The teams traded points as the score was knotted at 36 with 14:08 remaining in the period. NSU then scored the next 11 points over four minutes to take a 47-36 lead with 9:55 on the clock.
Adamson had an old-fashioned three-point play before getting a steal and a layup. She was fouled again and had the three-point play the hard way again to cut the lead to five, 47-42. The two teams again traded points before a three by Taylor Lewis, a layup by Green and a free throws by Jasmine Webb and Lewis put the home team up by 13 (61-48) with 2:10 remaining in the game.
Adamson hit a three from the top of the key before Lewis had two free throws. Adamson had one on the opposite end at 1:13 before she hit a layup at 1:02 to cut the lead to nine (63-54). NSU would score the next five points on free throws to take the 68-54 victory.
Adamson led the team with 22 points and eight rebounds. She was the only TexAnn in double figures.
Tarleton averaged .321 from the floor (18-56), .211 from the arc (4-19) and .737 from the charity stripe (14-19).
Tyler had 21 points to lead the home team with Lewis recording 18 and Webb 12. Webb led the squad with 12 rebounds.
NSU averaged .455 from the field (20-44), .571 from the arc (8-14) and .769 from the line (20-26).
Tarleton will return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 11 at Abilene Christian at 5:30 p.m. in Abilene.
