Kiara Wright calmly sank two free throws to give Tarleton State a one-point lead with 26.3 seconds to play in Friday’s quarterfinal game over Southeastern State.
But it was Wright’s key offensive rebound with 1.9 seconds remaining, which led to a jump-ball and Tarleton possession that proved to be the key play in Tarleton’s 63-61 nail-biting win over the Savage Storm at Bruin Fieldhouse.
The win not only improves the TexAnns to 24-3, but sets up a semifinal showdown Friday night with Central Oklahoma at 6 p.m.
TSU’s victory also avenged its only home loss of the season when they lost 78-77 when SE’s Jasmine Hughey hit a running 3-pointer from about 32 feet out as time expired.
On Friday in Bartlesville, it appeared for a moment that Whitney Coffey would be the latest hero for Southeastern. Her 3-pointer with 40.4 seconds to play gave the Storm a 61-60 lead.
But that set the stage for Wright, who was fouled in the paint. She drilled both charity tosses, putting the TexAnns back in front.
On SE’s next possession, Nikki Nester was called for traveling in the lane for their 17th turnover.
TSU’s Lisa Parker hit one free throw for a two-point lead, but her second miss eventually went to the floor where Wright corralled it and was later tied up by scrambling Storm players. Tarleton kept the possession and then quickly inbounded the ball and ran out the clock to preserve the win.
While UCO moves on in Bartlesville, its likely Southeastern isn’t finished playing as well. The Storm currently ranked fifth in the South Central Regional ranking, now falling to 20-7.
TSU guard Shelby Adamson led all scorers with 19 points, thanks to 11 of 12 shooting from the foul line. Wright and Sonya Sundberg scored 11 points each.
For SE, Jessica Hesse scored 12 points, while Coffey and Bailey Welch scored 10 points each.
Tarleton led by as much as 14 at 31-17 with four minutes until halftime. But the Storm rallied to trim TSU’s lead to five at the break. The momentum carried into the second half where SE tied the game just two minutes into the second half.
Both teams struggled mightily beyond the arc as Tarleton hit just 3 of 18 while Southeastern was 4 of 14, including a dreadful 1 of 11 in the first half.
The Storm, which led the LSC in free-throw shooting this year with a .766 percentage, hit just 13 of 20 (65.0 percent), including three key misses in the final three minutes.
TARLETON NOTES
The Tarleton TexAnns won just their second ever Lone Star Conference tournament game after advancing to nine championship events. It is the only one-point victory of the season, and only one of two wins decided by less than seven points.
Tarleton’s Kiara Wright grabbed the final offensive rebound to help hold onto the victory. She was the first Tarleton freshman to score in double figures (11) in the postseason since Morgan Stehling had 12 points in a lost to Central Oklahoma on March 4, 2009. Wright hit two free throws to give Tarleton the lead with 26 seconds remaining in the game.
The 24 wins is the most for the TexAnns since joining Division II.
SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE NOTES
Southeastern Oklahoma State's 63-61 loss to Tarleton State on
Wednesday was its fourth LSC Post-Season Tournament quarterfinal loss
in the last five seasons.
Including Wednesday's two-point loss. the Savage Storm played eight
games decided by three or less points this season and posted a 5-3
record in those eight games.