EDINBURG – Tarleton State made a double-digit comeback on Saturday afternoon, outrebounding UTRGV 48-32 to win their WAC road opener.
The Texans (2-4, 1-1 WAC) snapped a four-game skid with a 72-66 victory over the Vaqueros (0-7, 0-2 WAC) at UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg, Texas.
After trailing 34-25 at the break, Tarleton State came out firing in the third, making 8-of-13 (.615) from the field, 3-of-5 (.600) from distance and 7-of-8 (.875) from the free throw line. They doubled up the Vaqueros in the third 26-13.
“I’m so proud of our team’s effort today and their work ethic in the second half to overcome a nine-point halftime deficit,” head coach Bill Brock said. “I’m very thankful we finished the week 1-1 in conference play.”
Tarleton freshman Faith Acker followed up her impressive collegiate debut on Wednesday with a team-high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting and eight rebounds. Through two games, the true freshman is averaging 18.0 points and 7.5 rebounds.
Elise Turrubiates scored 12 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter, shooting 6-of-10 on the day, adding eight rebounds. Teresa Da Silva powered the bench with 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Tyler Jackson added 10 points, six rebounds and two assists.
The Texans have now evened the all-time series against UTRGV 4-4, including a 2-2 mark in Edinburg.
There were four lead changes and four ties in this one, but it was the Vaqueros in control most of the first half. The Texans held a 6-5 lead and didn’t lead again until the third, although the deficit was marginal throughout. The Vaqueros led 17-14 after the first, then quickly built a nine-point lead, 23-14 with 7:41 to play in the second. The Texans held UTRGV to just 11-of-34 (.324) shooting in the first half, but went without a three-pointer in the first 20 minutes, trailing by nine at the break, 34-25.
The Vaqueros led by as many as 10 before the Texans went to work. They went on a 6-0 spurt to cut it to four, then later went on a 14-2 run to jump ahead by five 49-44 with 1:17 left. Da Silva scored eight points in the run. Tarleton led 51-47 after three.
Turrubiates began her takeover of the fourth early and gave the Texans their largest lead of the day at nine, 58-49 with 8:01 remaining. UTRGV never got closer than four back, finishing on a 1-of-7 (.143) clip from distance in the final frame.
The Texans outshot their opponent for the third straight game, 25-of-56 (.446) to 21-of-67 (.313).
Coincidentally, Acker became the first Texan freshman to score 20 points since former Texan Iyana Dorsey, who played for the orange and white across the way Saturday, closed her first season in Stephenville in 2020-21 with back-to-back 20-plus point games.
On Saturday, UTRGV’s Dorsey scored a game-high 25 points (6-18 FG, 1-9 3PT, 12-12 FT). Arianna Sturdivant tallied 12 points (4-8 3PT) and four rebounds, and Ashton McCorry had a bench-high 12 points and four rebounds.
The Texans will return to non-conference play for five more games the rest of December. They’ll next play their rescheduled game at Northwestern State on Wednesday at 5 p.m. CT. at Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
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