Short-handed Texans suffer heartbreaking OT loss to St. Mary’s

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STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton women’s basketball suffered a heartbreaking 74-67 overtime loss to St. Mary’s on Thursday in Wisdom Gym.

The Texans fall to 19-6 on the year and 13-6 in the Lone Star Conference and snapped a seven-game winning streak. The Texans still maintain the fourth seed in the LSC overall standings, which would give them a first-round bye in the LSC tournament in two weeks.

Tarleton was without three starters for either all or most of the game due to injuries (Mackenzie Hailey, Alexa Hoy, and Kandyn Faurie) and still managed to force the game into overtime while short-handed.

Kylie Collins scored a career-high 17 points in 39 minutes to lead the Texans offensively. Marissa Escamilla added 12 points, 7 rebounds and Callie Boyles posted 12 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks.

The Texans had to rely on a core of underclassman to carry the load with three true freshman – Boyles, Jasmine Bailey, and Jayci Morton – playing over 20 minutes each, which is a career high in minutes. Bailey and Morton each scored five points in the game. In the opening quarter, the Texans held a slim 11-9 lead over the visiting Rattlers.

In the second quarter, St. Mary’s pulled away from the Texans and would lead for the rest of regulation. The Rattlers outscored the Texans 18-11 in the second quarter and led 27-22. The Texans only shot 22 percent in the half compared to St. Mary’s 42 percent but still managed to keep the game to within striking distance.

The Texans trailed by as much as nine with 2:40 left in the third quarter, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Bailey and Escamilla closed to gap to three, which was the deficit heading into fourth quarter, 44-41.

Morton opened the fourth quarter with a 3-point play to tie the game at 44-44, the first time the two teams were tied since the opening frame. The Texans never led in fourth but put themselves in position to tie the game in the final seconds. Boyles was fouled on a potential game-tying 3-pointer with a second on the clock and the true freshman went to the line with no hesitation and drilled all three free throws to send the game to overtime.

In the extra period, St. Mary’s hit a 3-pointer to put the Rattlers up by five with a minute left and would build an 8-point lead at the free-throw line to clinch the win.

Tarleton will look to bounce back for Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. against St. Edward’s in Wisdom Gym.


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