No. 2 Texans tasked with tough Delta State

TexAnns welcome NAIA Our Lady of the Lake

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Tarleton State welcomes Our Lady of the Lake for a women's contest at 5:30 p.m. and Delta State (Miss.) for a men's battle at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. today at Wisdom Gym. || Photos by CHET MARTIN

By BRAD KEITH

TheFlashToday.com NEWS & SPORTS – FREE & LOCAL

STEPHENVILLE (November 17, 2015) — Veteran head coach Lonn Reisman said he wanted a tougher early schedule for his No. 2 Tarleton State men’s basketball team.

Well coach, be careful what you ask for.

The Texans won a pair of regional games last weekend in the Texan Tipoff Classic. Neither were easy, as they had to hold off a Colorado-Colorado Springs rally after building a big lead on Friday, then had to come from behind after a sluggish start against an Adams State team that shot the lights out on Saturday.

Tonight the Texans get Delta State, ranked as high as No. 11 in one poll. DSU has already defeated Florida Southern, 77-63. Granted, FSC lost the majority of its roster after winning the national championship last season. The Statesmen have also knocked off Eckerd,

“Delta State is a very good team and they are a very big team,” said Reisman. “They are exceptionally well coached and this is going to be a very tough game to win. It will be an exciting game for our fans, one of the toughest early season games we’ve had here in a long time.”

When Reisman says Delta State is big, he means it. Declan Harrick is a 6-10 senior at center, and two of the starting guards – Devin Schmidt and Jack Madgen, go 6-4 and 6-5. Schmidt is the leader in scoring at 26.5 points per game and assists at 5.0.

The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. following a women’s contest between Tarleton and Our Lady of the Lake, an NAIA school out of San Antonio.


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Below are the game notes from Tarleton Athletic Communications for both games:

No. 2 Tarleton men vs. Delta State

THE GAME

After a pair of wins to open the season at the Texan Tip-Off Classic, No. 2 Tarleton will take on Delta State (2-0) on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at Wisdom Gym.

THE BROADCAST

Each game will have a live radio broadcast presented by the Tarleton Sports Network presented by North Texas Ford Dealers. The Voice of the Texans, Casey Hogan, will be back calling the play-by-play for Tarleton basketball this season. The radio broadcast can be heard on KTRL 90.5 FM in Stephenville and surrounding areas or online at TarletonSports.com/ListenLive.

THE OPPONENT: Delta State

The Statesmen come to Stephenville with a 2-0 record on the season with wins against Eckerd College and the defending Division II National Champions Florida Southern, 77-63. Delta State was picked No. 11 in the D2 Bulletin Preseason Poll.

THE SERIES: Delta State

This is the third all-time meeting between the two schools and the first match up since 1999. The series is split between Tarleton and Delta State with each team winning on its home court. Tarleton won 75-72 in Stephenville in 1998 and Delta State won the most recent game 82-65 in Cleveland, Miss. in 1999.

LAST TIME OUT

Tarleton played Adams State and won 84-77. Seniors Charles Hill (24 points, 9 rebounds) and EJ Reed(16 points, 11 rebounds) helped carry the Texans to a come-from-behind win and improve to 2-0.

COACHING LEGENDS

Head coach Lonn Reisman and Delta State head coach Jim Boone have a combined 1,096 career wins. In 28 seasons, Reisman has 591 wins at Tarleton (612 overall) and Boone, 30 seasons, coaching has 392 wins at the Division II level (484 overall). Both coaches have two NCAA Division II Final Four appearances.

2015 SLAM DUNK CONTEST

Former Delta State guard LaQuavius Cotton competed with Tarleton forward Davene Carter in the NCAA Division I Slam Dunk Contest on ESPN. Cotton, who won the dunk contest, got drafted in the fifth round by the NBA D-League’s Rio Grand Valley Vipers. Carter got third in the contest and signed with Harlem Globetrotters. Carter now goes by the nickname ‘Viper’ for the Globetrotters.

CHASING 600

Head Coach Lonn Reisman enters the game with 591 career wins in 28 seasons at Tarleton (612 overall). Reisman is fifth on the active NCAA Division II head coaches’ win list.

REISMAN IN NOVEMBER

Head coach Lonn Reisman is 39-5 in November games since 2007 for a .886 winning percentage. The Texans have won 13 straight games in November.

TEXANS AT HOME

In Coach Reisman’s 28 seasons at Tarleton State, the Texans have amassed a total record of 376-62 including a record of 158-14 (.919) with two undefeated home seasons since 2005. The Texans went 20-1 at Wisdom Gym last season.

TEXANS IN SEASON OPENERS

Tarleton improved to 25-3 in season openers under head coach Lonn Reisman and 25-1 in season openers in Stephenville. The Texans have won the last three season openers and 14 of the last 15.

MILESTONE WATCH

Deshawn Riddick is 10 points away from 100 in his career.

Jakob Damstra is 10 rebounds away from 100 in his career.

 3-0 STARTS

Tarleton has won the first three games of the season in nine of the last 10 seasons. Since joining the NCAA in 1994, the Texans have reached the 3-0 mark 13 times and 15 out of 27 seasons with Reisman at the helm.

 ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM

Tarleton had three players named to the Texan Tip-Off Classic All-Tournament Team for the second straight season. Michael Hardge and Charles Hill earned all tournament status and EJ Reed was named the tournament MVP.

 LSC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

EJ Reed was named the Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week after guiding the No. 2-ranked Texans to a 2-0 start. Reed not only leads the Texans in scoring, but he is tops in rebounds, blocks and steals, too. The senior from Mesquite posted his first-career double-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks against Adams State and added a career-high 21 points with nine rebounds, three steals, and two blocks versus UC-Colorado Springs. It’s also the first career LSC weekly award for Reed.

 ENTERING THE TOP 15

4-year Texan Michael Hardge, who has 206 career assists and 76 career steals, needs 20 assists and 16 steals to enter the top 15 on the all-time Tarleton basketball records list.

 SENIOR SUCCESS

When seniors Michael Hardge and EJ Reed are in the starting lineup together, the Texans have a record of 21-2.

 NON-CONFERENCE WIN STREAK

The Texans have won 31 straight non-conference home games. The last loss came on Nov. 12, 2012 vs Southwestern Assemblies of God.

 UP NEXT FOR TARLETON

Tarleton will take on Bacone at home on Saturday, Nov. 21 for “Banner Night” as Tarleton will unveil its 2015-16 NCAA Division II Final Four banner.


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Tarleton women vs. Our Lady of the Lake

THE GAME

Fresh off a sweep of the TexAnn Tip-Off Classic, Tarleton will go for its third win in a row to begin the season with a Wednesday night contest against Our Lady of the Lake in Wisdom Gym.

THE BROADCAST

The game will have a live radio broadcast presented by the Tarleton Sports Network presented by North Texas Ford Dealers. The Voice of the TexAnns, Keltin Wiens, will serve as the play-by-play this season. The radio broadcast can be heard on KTRL 90.5 FM in Stephenville and surrounding areas or online at TarletonSports.com/ListenLive. The pregame show will begin 15 minutes prior to tip-off.

LAST TIME OUT

Tarleton opened the season with back-to-back wins for the first time since 2013 and the second time in the last five seasons. The TexAnns opened things up with a blowout victory over Concordia-Irvine in the opener behind a career-high 16 points from Meagan O’Dell before Bailey Wipff‘s 17-point performance against Texas A&M International capped off her MVP-caliber weekend with another win.

THE OPPONENT

Despite starting this season with back-to-back heartbreaking losses, Our Lady of the Lake has developed into an NAIA powerhouse under fourth-year head coach Christopher Minner. The Saints are currently tied at No. 7 in the NAIA national polls. Both of their losses this year have come by a combined seven points, including an 87-85 loss to the other No. 7-ranked team in NAIA, Oklahoma City.

THE SERIES

Tarleton owns the all-time record against the Saints 2-0 in a series that has not sparked up in over three decades. These teams played a home-and-home series in the 1982-83 season, but have not taken the floor against each other since January 12, 1983

DROPPIN’ DIMES                                                                                                                       Morgan Ashmore enters the 2015-16 season with 251 career assists, which currently has her at No. 12 on the all-time list. She is 31 assists away from taking over the No. 11 spot from Jenn Doroga (281) and 47 assists shy of jumping into the top 10 by passing Tina Proctor (290).

DOUBLE-DOUBLES

Junior Ikpeaku Iwobi is currently the only TexAnn to record a double-double in any game this season. She recorded the first one of this season last time out with a 12-point, 12-rebound effort against Texas A&M International.

PRODUCTION OFF THE BENCH

In the first two games of the season, Tarleton’s bench has provided its fair share of valuable production. Led by 14.0 points per game from Meagan O’Dell, the TexAnn reserves are averaging 35.5 points per game and are shooting .556 from the floor, .381 from downtown, and .813 at the charity stripe.

MOVIN’ UP THE ALL-TIME 3’s LIST

With 12 three-pointers in the first two games, Meagan O’Dell has jumped Tiffanie Bowen (1997-00) for 15th all-time in long shots with 75 in her career. Next in line are Morgan Stehling (76) and Misty Wilson (77) in 14th and 13th place.

TARLETON vs NAIA

Since moving up to the NCAA in 1994, Tarleton has played 24 games against NAIA opponents and boast a record of 19-5 in those games. Tarleton has not lost to an NAIA school since an 84-87 setback against Lubbock Christian on Nov. 22, 2011 – before the Lady Chaps and LCU made the move to NCAA Division II.

WIPFF: PLAYER OF THE WEEK

After leading the TexAnns to a 2-0 start to the season, Bailey Wipff was named the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week. She was named the MVP of the TexAnn Tip-Off Classic after scoring 31 points in two games.

UP NEXT FOR TARLETON

Tarleton will return to action Saturday night with a 5 p.m. showdown with Texas Wesleyan in Wisdom Gym. It will be autograph night as the TexAnns will join the Texan Basketball team after the men’s game to sign autographs for fans.

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