Box Score SAN ANTONIO – Led by a pair of 20-point efforts from the Lone Star Conference's top scorers, Tarleton came out on top, 78-71, in a hard fought battle against Incarnate Word Saturday afternoon in a rematch of last season's LSC Championship game.
 
Kiara Wright recorded a career-high 25 points and 12 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season while Peyton Adamson continued her strong play against the Cardinals with her seventh career 20-point game and her fourth this season.
 
Tarleton (9-2, 5-0) opened the second half with a six-point lead, but Incarnate Word (7-4, 3-2) scored the first four points of the new period to cut the TexAnn lead to just two with 18 minutes to play in the game.
 
The Cardinals were able to bring the game to a tie for the first time at the 16:52 mark following a pair of free throws and an 8-2 run to start the second half, but Wright ended the run and put Tarleton back on top with a layup off an assist from Shanae Lowrance.
 
Wright's layup started a 10-5 Tarleton run to put the TexAnns up 55-50 with 11:36 left in the game.
 
After a Keyra Johnson free throw made the score 56-53 with 10:46 left, only one UIW free throw put any more points on the board for either team over the next three minutes before Wright extended the Tarleton lead back to five with an old-fashioned 3-point play.
 
UIW responded with four straight free throws to pull within one before Wright split a pair of Cardinal defenders to a cutting Brianna Bledsoe for the basketball and a foul. Bledsoe drained the free throw to push the lead back to 62-58.
 
After a pair of Cardinal free throws made it 62-60, Wright went to free throw line and hit the first before missing the second. Off the miss, however, Bledsoe grabbed the offensive board and kicked it out to a wide-open Adamson for a 3-pointer to lead 66-60 with 6:19 to play.
 
UIW answered with a 9-5 run to pull within two points at 71-69 with 3:31 left in the game, but Tarleton would not be denied.
 
Bledsoe poked the ball away from the Cardinal guard at mid court and right into the hands of Cheyenne Berry. After a missed 3-ball from the corner, Wright kept the possession alive with an offensive rebound and a layup – which gave her a new career high in points scored – to put the TexAnns up 73-69 with 1:54 left.
 
The TexAnns ended the game on a 5-2 run over the final 1:54 to claim the victory.
 
Tarleton got the scoring started down low with back-to-back buckets from Wright in the paint to take a 4-0 lead just one minute into the contest.
 
Tarleton extended its lead to as many as nine on three different occasions over the first half – never leading by less than four until the 6:46 mark.
 
Leading by a pair with 3:49 left, Adamson drilled a 3-pointer to start a 7-2 run over the next 1:23 to push the Tarleton lead back to seven at 41-34. Tarleton never led by more than seven or trailed by less than five over the rest of the half and went into the break with a 43-37 lead.
 
In addition to the 20-point performances of Wright and Adamson, Bledsoe nearly matched her career-high with a 15-point performance on 5-7 shooting from the floor and 5-5 shooting at the charity stripe. Cheyenne Berry also added eight points and a career-high eight rebounds off the bench.
 
Wright's 12 rebounds today give her 578 for her career and moved her into 11^th place all-time, passing Tina Tibbs and former teammate Brittnie Haley.
 
Tarleton will return home Wednesday night for a 6 p.m. bout with the Cameron Aggies on Dollar Night in Wisdom Gym.