The Tarleton State men and women are set to open the Lone Star Conference tournament Wednesday at the Allen Event Center in Allen.
The Texans men (17-9, 10-8 LSC), are the the No. 3 seed and will play Eastern New Mexico in the first round at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.Tarleton split its season series with the Greyhounds. Eastern New Mexico won the first game 59-56 on Jan. 23. Tarleton won 71-58 on Feb. 27.The teams enter the tournament on opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to offense and defense.Eastern New Mexico is fifth overall in the LSC in scoring with 70.4 points per game, while Tarleton State bolsters the league’s second-best scoring defense, allowing just 58.7 per game.For Tarleton State to be successful it will need to avoid turning the ball over.The Texans had 19 turnovers in the first meeting but only eight in the second. The winner will face today’s winner between No. 2 Cameron and No. 7 West Texas A&M.The TexAnns enter the tournament as the league’s No. 4 seed and face No. 5 Incarnate World in its opening game at 6 p.m. Thursday. Tarleton State enters with a second-best 73.1 points per game and has been led on both ends of the floor by Kiara Wright.Wright is the Division II leader in rebounds with 14 points per game and was selected the LSC defensive player of the week last week, her fifth weekly award this season.Tarleton swept its season series with Incarnate Word by winning 78-71 on Jan. 5 and 88-74 on Feb. 16.For the winner, a semifinal will mean facing either No. 1 Midwestern State or No. 8 Eastern New Mexico, who play at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Both the men’s and women’s LSC championship games are scheduled for Saturday.The women’s championship is at 6 p.m. The men’s final is at 8:30 p.m.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
