TexAnns meet TAMUC again in LSC Championship quarterfinal

Bailey Wipff FEATURE — Second-team all-conference guard Bailey Wipff and Tarleton State have a direct rematch with Texas A&M-Commerce at 6 p.m. Thursday at Allen Event Center. || Courtesy CHET MARTIN

SPECIAL TO THE FLASH

TarletonSports.com

THE GAME
For the 14th time in school history, Tarleton has qualified for the annual Lone Star Conference Championship Tournament and will begin its journey on Thursday at 6 p.m. against Texas A&M-Commerce at the Allen Event Center.

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
Led by a career-high 22 points from Ikpeaku Iwobi, Tarleton dropped its regular season finale on the road to Texas A&M-Commerce, 78-71. The TexAnns had their seven-game win streak snapped to finish the regular season at 16-10 overall and 10-6 in Lone Star Conference and clinched the fourth seed for the LSC tournament.

TARLETON’S TOURNAMENT JOURNEY
The TexAnns will open the tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions Thursday at 6 p.m. If Tarleton wins, they will advance to the semifinals against West Texas A&M Friday night.

TARLETON AT THE TOURNAMENT
Tarleton has qualified for the Lone Star Conference Championship Tournament for the 14th time in school history and 13th consecutive season dating back to 2004. The TexAnns are 8-12 all-time in Tournament play, including 6-3 since the tournament moved to Allen in 2012. Tarleton has one tournament title, which came in the debut year of the Allen Event Center in 2012.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The LSC Tournament is the league’s automatic qualifying championship tournament – meaning the winner of the tournament title earns an automatic bid into the NCAA National Playoffs. In Tarleton’s first nine trips to the tournament, the bracket was arranged to take the top four seeds from the North Division and the top four seeds of the South Division. Beginning in 2012 when divisions dissolved in the LSC, the tournament shifted to it’s current eight-seed format.

REBOUNDING TOWARDS HISTORY
Ikpeaku Iwobi is the fifth player in Tarleton’s NCAA era to score 600 career points and grab 500 career rebounds, joining Kiara Wright (1,497p; 1,075r), JoAnne Jones (998p; 561r), Brittnie Haley (738p; 447r), and Amanda Franklin (722p; 516r).

IWOBI: ONE MORE BOARD
With her next rebound, Ikpeaku Iwobi will collect her 200th rebound of the season – giving her back-to-back seasons with 200 total boards.

MCGRATH: DISHING IT OUT
Raven McGrath enters the LSC Tournament with 202 career assists, which makes her the 18th TexAnn all-time to top the 200-assist plateau. She is currently tied with Brianna Bledsoe for 16th place all-time and is 10 dimes shy of cracking the Tarleton Top-15 list.

WIPFF: DRILLING TRIPLES
Bailey Wipff enters the tournament with 60 3-pointers made this season. This is the sixth season a TexAnn has connected for 60 3FG.

UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Since the TexAnns are not ranked in the South Central Regional rankings, Tarleton will need to win the tournament title to extend the season into the NCAA National Playoffs. If Tarleton wins in the quarterfinals, the TexAnns will advance to the semifinals to face West Texas A&M Friday at 6 p.m.