PORTALES, NM – After trailing for 37 straight minutes, Tarleton women’s basketball went on a 12-0 run in the final 1:59 of the game to stun Eastern New Mexico (17-7, 11-7 LSC) on the road, 54-52.
The Texans have won seven straight games and move to 19-5 on the season and 13-5 in the Lone Star Conference. Tarleton holds a 14-2 record over the last 16 games.
With two minutes left in the game, the Greyhounds held a 52-42 lead over the Texans. After scoring the winning points to upset No. 20 West Texas A&M on Thursday, Kylie Collins was in position to do it again. A three from Collins tied the game up at 52-all with 46 seconds remaining.
The Texan defense made a stop at the other end of the floor and Marissa Escamilla rebounded it to give the ball back to the Texans. With eight seconds left, Kandyn Faurie banked in a running mid-range jumper to secure the win for the Texans. It was Tarleton’s first lead since Collins’ 3-pointer to open the game at 3-0.
The Texans opened the game shooting 1-13 from the field, propelling a 10-0 opening run by the Greyhounds. The drought was ended by back-to-back buckets from Faurie and Mackenzie Hailey to put the Texans within three, 10-7, with under three minutes left in the first quarter. The Greyhounds would hold onto their advantage into the second quarter, 14-9.
Eastern New Mexico’s lead reached double-digits, 19-9, two minutes into the second quarter. Five straight points from Escamilla made it a one possession game, 22-19, at 4:42. Both teams traded shot through the rest of the half to make it a six-point game into the locker rooms, 27-21 Greyhounds.
Hailey led the team with six points in the first half. Faurie added five rebounds, while Escamilla contributed four. Despite a slow offensive start, the Texans outrebounded the Greyhounds 24-20 and held the home team to 32.1 percent shooting in the opening half.
A layup from Escamilla opened the second half scoring for the Texans. It was a low scoring half for both teams, as Eastern New Mexico outscored Tarleton by just three points, 12-9, to move into the final 10 minutes of the game with a nine-point lead, 39-30.
Faurie and Escamilla recorded near double-doubles off the bench with 10 points and nine rebounds each. Hailey led the team in scoring with 12 points. Rounding out the scoring for Tarleton was Collins (7), Kaitlyn Guillory (6), Lucy Benson (6), Alexa Hoy (2), and Callie Boyles (1).
With five rebounds in today’s match-up, Hailey has moved into fifth place in total rebounds in Tarleton women’s basketball history. In four seasons, Hailey has tallied 868 rebounds, surpassing Kaelie Butler’s mark of 863.
The Texans will return to Wisdom Gym for the final two home games of the regular season next week. First, Tarleton will face St. Mary’s on Thursday, February 20th at 5:30 p.m. The Texans will then face St. Edward’s on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Saturday’s match-up will be a max point game (500) in the Tarleton fan rewards app.
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