By BRAD KEITH
TheFlashToday.com
FRISCO (March 3, 2018) — Who cares about seeds?
Not Tarleton State.
The TexAnns weren’t seeded No. 1 when they won the Lone Star Conference Championship final last year, claiming their second tourney title five years to the day after their first.
They weren’t even seeded among the top half of the teams competing in this conference tournament, yet they have been dominant through the quarterfinals and semifInals at Dr Pepper Arena.
McKinley Bostad poured in 19 points, Tarleton (20-10) took control early in the game and stayed that way and top seed Angelo State (22-6) went down without much of a struggle in a 72-56 conference tournament semifinal Saturday.
That sets up a tournament final between No. 2 seed (by a coin flip) West Texas A&M and No. 5 seed Tarleton, which was just as good in the near-24-hour delayed opener, an 83-61 vicotry over Eastern New Mexico.
WTAMU won 68-55 in the earlier semifinal against Texas A&M-Commerce after throttling Midwestern State 70-49 in a quarterfinal game that began Thursday and concluded Friday due to a leak in the roof of the arena.
Bostad scored 11 points in the first half and didn’t taper much in the second. The same could be said of the TexAnns who led by 14 at halftime and saw that cut to single digits just once when the Rambelles pulled within 49-40. Katie Webster scored 15 points, including a fast break layup after beating the press on the ensuing possession, making it 51-40.
The Tarleton lead would never again see the south side of 10, and the dagger was delivered by backup point guard Baylee Peck in the form of a left corner 3 that stretched it to 70-53 in the closing stretch.
Tarleton was 10-13 shoting – 77 percent – in the first quarter, when they seized the lead for good with a 7-0 run that made it 11-6 early. Point guard Kylie Collins drained an open 3 between two points beach from Webster and Bostad, and the surge continued until it was 22-13 by the end of the period.
Nobody knew it then, but Tarleton was in control for good.
TARLETON HEAD COACH MISTY WILSON, GUARD KATIE WEBSTER AND VERSATILE G/F MCKINLEY BOSTAD DISCUSS THE WIN:
The TexAnns were hitting 64 percent for the first half until missing their final two attempts, the last hurried at the buzzer. They were still hitting 59 percent at the break, though that number would drop 10 percent over the first five minutes of the third, their coldest shooting period at 5-19, just 26 percent.
Tarleton had just one field goal over those opening minutes, but ASU just two, and only five points were ever trimmed off a lead that would be stretched back out over time.
At game’s end, Tarleton was shooting 49 percent and ASU 39 percent including only 25 percent in a fourth quarter when the Rambelles needed desperately to get hot as they trailed 53-43 through three.
Tarleton committed five turnovers against immense ASU pressure in the fourth quarter, but had only five turnovers over the firs three periods. This in spite of moving the ball faster than at any point previously this season, something Tarleton head coach Misty Wilson said was heavily emphasized as the TexAnns prepared early this week to defend their 2017 tournament title.
The TexAnns secured just their fifth 20-win season since joining the NCAA and LSC in 1995-96. Wilson was assisting Tarleton Hall of Fame coach Ronnie Hearne in each of the prior 20-win campaigns.
Reigning tournament MVP and first-team all-conference selection Mackenzie Hailey scored 11 , and while she struggled to get to rebounds, the sophomore from Burleson still filled out the stat sheet nicely with six assists and three steals.
Bostad was 7-10 from the floor and did more than score, too. The junior from Kennedale collected seven boards, two assists and a steal. Webster had six boards, and Tatum, often the smallest player on the court, grabbed five boards.
The contributions of Shelby Mankins – five points and five boards in just 11 minutes off the bench – are hard to overlook since Tarleton was getting literally nothing out of her for the bulk of conference play. Mankins was injured and out of the lineup the majority of the conference season.
If Tarleton wasn’t already sitting firmly on the NCAA Division II tournament bubble, the TexAnns are certainly there now. Losses in either of the first two rounds would have been season ending with a No. 9 ranking. Beating ENMU didn’t hurt, and advancing past ASU, No. 4 in the latest South Central Region rankings, certainly helps.
Of course the only way to be safe is to jump off the bubble onto the auto access train that carried Tarleton straight into its firs regional tournament under Wilson last season.
Thanks to two performances that indicate they are peaking right on time, the TexAnns will get their shot.
TARLETON NOTES:
-Won LSC Championship titles in 2012 and 2017 (5 years to the day apart)
-Now 14-13 all-time in the LSC Championship
-In midst of 16th LSC Championship appearance
-Competing in 15th consecutive Championship appearance
INJURY NEWS:
-Mankins returned and was a solid contributor in her 11 minutes.
-Bostad appeared to tweak an ankle late in the fourth quarter. She jogged back and forth a couple times behind the bench and game administration table and limped to and from the post game press conference, but it appeared that was related more to the size of the ice pack athletic trainers had strapped in place.
Asked about it following the press conference, Bostad said simply, “It’s good.”
BOXSCORE:
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | 16 | 15 | 19 | 72 | |
| 13 | 11 | 19 | 13 | 56 |
Tarleton State 72
| Technical Fouls: none | Second Chance Points: 4 | Scores Tied: 2 time(s) |
| Points in the Paint: 34 | Fast Break Points: 8 | Lead Changed: 1 time(s) |
| Points off Turnovers: 13 | Bench Points: 12 | Largest Lead: 17 4th-02:27 |
Angelo State 56
| Technical Fouls: none | Second Chance Points: 16 | Scores Tied: 1 time(s) |
| Points in the Paint: 30 | Fast Break Points: 2 | Lead Changed: 0 time(s) |
| Points off Turnovers: 6 | Bench Points: 12 | Largest Lead: 2 1st-09:44 |
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