The Tarleton State University TexAnns fell in the Lone Star Conference Championship game on Saturday to West Texas A&M, after beating Texas Woman’s Friday to make it to the championship game.

In the LSC Semifinal game, the TexAnns were down 5-2 early on, but Kiara Wright responded with a layup, while Meagan O’Dell with a jumper and a 3-pointer by Brianna Bledsoe put the TexAnns ahead 9-5, and they wouldn’t be behind again.

The Pioneers cut the lead to two with 12:36 left in the first half, but in the following 9:45, the TexAnns shut down the Texas Woman’s offense to just six free throws and allowing no field goals from the floor while extending the lead to 29-15, and then going into half with a 33-21 lead.

In the second half, the TexAnns were ahead by double figures for the entire 20 minutes, and won 61-46 to get them into the championship game.

Bledsoe recorded her fourth double-double while leading the team with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Wright was just shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds, while Shanae Lowrance added eight and Raven McGrath helped with six more.

Rounding on the scoring for the TexAnns were Kathy Thomas and Ikpeaku Iwobi with four each, and Travanti Downes and Karli Moore with two each.

In the championship game, the TexAnns overcame a double-digit deficit in the first half to take a late lead in the game, but were not able to hold on and ultimately fell short.

The TexAnns were down 22-8 in the first half after a West Texas A&M run, but Raven McGrath had a 3-pointer that turned the game in the Tarleton’s direction with 10:53 left.

After a 13-1 run by the TexAnns, WT now only had a 2-point lead. The Lady Buffs came back to create a seven point deficit before Meagan O’Dell knocked down back-to-back three pointers to tie the game. The TexAnns went into the half down by only one.

In the second half, neither team could break away, and Tarleton had the lead at 62-59 with 4:11 left. WT responded with a 17-5 run in the final four minutes of the game to take the LSC championship 76-67.

Kiara Wright recorded her 58th career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Coming off the bench, McGrath had eight points, three assists and no turnovers, while Iwobi added 10 points and six rebounds and Moore and Downes helped with eight a four points, respectively.

Lowrance added six points, while Bledsoe and Thomas each scored four.

The TexAnns are the No. 3 seed in the South Central region, and next weekend will be advancing to their sixth NCAA Regional Tournament in school history.