No. 2 LCU comes out clicking against shorthanded TexAnns

By  BRAD KEITH
TheFlashToday.com

LUBBOCK (March 9, 2018) — It may not have mattered, but Tarleton State will never know how it might have measured up to No. 2 Lubbock Christian in the opening round of the 2018 South Central Region Championship had the TexAnns had their full arsenal of weaponry available.

LCU (29-1) showed why it is the No. 1 seed and hosting the regional tournament, scoring the first 12 points leading 26-7 after a quarter in a 78-46 win over  No. 8 seed Tarleton (20-12).

LCU came out firing on all cylinders, beginning 7-11 from the field with a trio of 3-point buckets for 18-5 lead that would only grow from there. It was 26-7 by the end of the first quarter and 40-15 following the seventh LCU 3-pointer with 5:53 left in the first half.

LCU took its foot off the gas and Tarleton began getting stops, holding the Lady Chaps scoreless while scoring the final eight points of the half, but the damage was done.  Especially with no Hailey to help Tarleton find an answer.

Hailey, a first-team All-Lone Star Conference and LSC All-Defensive Team honoree, averaged 14.5 points and 7.2 rebounds while starting all 31 games prior to the regional. Hailey, McKinley Bostad and Katie Webster combined to average 40.5 points and 17.4 rebounds this season. With no Hailey, those numbers plummeted to 20 points and 7 boards against LCU.

Bostad scored 14 and Webster had six, finishing right on the heels of four-year letter winner Tiara Tatum, who finished her career playing in a second straight regional tournament. She also played in the last two Lone Star Conference Championship finals, pouring in 15 points when Tarleton won the conference tournament last year.

Baylee Peck played 26 minutes in her final game as a TexAnn, collecting three points, three rebounds and two assists.

LCU shot 54 percent including 48 percent from the arc while burying 11 3-pointers. Tarleton shot only 31 percent and was 24 percent from long range.

Tess Bruffey enjoyed a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double and also had four assists, four blocks and a steal for LCU, filling out the stat sheet similar to how Hailey has a number of times for Tarleton. Maddi Chitsey added 18 points and seven rebounds for LCU while Caitlyn Cunyus contributed 13 points.

It was the seventh NCAA regional appearance by Tarleton and the fifth time the TexAnns have been eliminated in the opening round. They made five consecutive appearances under Tarleton Hall of Fame coach Ronnie Hearne from 2010-14, and won opening-round games in 2011 and 2014.

Fourth year Tarleton head coach Misty Wilson was assistant coach of those teams. She reached 20 wins as a head coach for the first time last week when the TexAnns beat Angelo State in a semifinal at the LSC tournament in Frisco.