TexAnns top ENMU

PORTALES — Coming into Wednesday’s game, the ENMU women’s basketball teams hadn’t beaten Lone Star Conference rival Tarleton State in 18 straight games.

Make it 19, as the TexAnns held off a second-half comeback to grab a 76-60 victory Wednesday at Greyhound Arena. Ikpeaku Iwobi and Bailey Wipff each scored 13 at Tarleton State (15-9, 9-5), and with Breanna Fuller (10 points) shot 16-of-24 from the field with three of the team’s four treys.

“Give them credit. They made shots when we had some good defense,” ENMU coach Josh Prock said. “You got to give the other team credit. We just didn’t have it tonight.”

In their last two games, the Greyhounds were able to come back from a double-digit deficit to win both games. This time it wasn’t the case as Tarleton led for nearly 38 minutes throughout the game.

link Staff photo: Kevin Wilson

ENMU guard Miranda Moore drives for a layup in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s game at Greyhound Arena. Moore had seven points in the 76-60 loss to Tarleton State.

ENMU (10-14, 5-9 LSC) took their first and only lead of the game when senior post Brittany Gutierrez made her first of three field goals of the night for a 4-2 lead. Tarleton State quickly tied the game up with a lay-up from Iwobi and never trailed again.

For the third straight game, senior guard Sarah Stinnett led the Greyhounds in scoring. The problem this time was that Stinnett finished with 17 points and no other player for ENMU scored more than seven.

“Sarah’s been phenomenal the last three games,” ENMU coach Josh Prock said. “We really appreciate everything she’s doing for us. She’s playing like the great player she is.”

Stinnett added six rebounds and four assists to her stat line.

For the game, the Hounds shot 43 percent from the field, but the TexAnns shot 54 percent and went 16-21 from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, ENMU went just 2-5 and didn’t attempt their second free throw until midway through the fourth.

The last time these two teams met, Tarleton prevented an ENMU comeback, winning 56-51. This time, the game was in little doubt after the first quarter when Tarleton had a 26-16 lead that only continued to grow as the game moved on.

“I thought we adjusted well on defense with their 3-2 zone,” Tarleton State coach Misty Wilson said. “We saw some chinks in it and we were able to exploit those weaknesses tonight.”

The Hounds visit Texas A&M-Commerce Saturday, then return home to close out the LSC regular season the following Saturday against West Texas A&M.