Head Coach Ronnie Hearne tacked on his 200^th win in his 11-year career at Tarleton State University, as the TexAnns were victorious over Texas Women’s University 87-69 on Jan. 4.

Last season under Hearne’s coaching, Tarleton ended at 19-10 and advanced to their 10^th straight Lone Star Conference Championship. In 2011-12, the TexAnns captured their first LSC Championship in school history.

Coach Hearne came to Tarleton in 2003 after finishing 21 years as the women’s coach at Cisco Junior College. While at Cisco he made 18 regional tournament appearances and was named North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference (NTJCAC) Coach of the Year four times. Hearne’s teams won conference titles in 1986, 1987, 1988, and 2002. His team ranked No. 5 in team defense in the 2002 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) standings, while racking up a 27-5 record and being crowned NTJCACchampions.

Before going to Cisco, Hearne held high school head coaching positions at Jacksboro High School and Milsap High School. He is also a graduate of Abilene Christian University. He was a three-time all-conference and four-time Southland Conference first team player for the Wildcats.

Hearne ended his career as the second all-time leading scorer. At ACU, Hearne recorded the sixth-best individual season total with 573 points in 1969-70, an average of 22.0 points per game. He racked up 497 points during the 1968-69 season and 477 points in 1970-71.  Hearne led the Wildcats in scoring his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. He was also captain of his team as a junior and senior.

The TexAnns have now won their seventh game in a row and have a total record of 10-1.

The two teams played a tight game with Texas Woman’s leading 23-21 with 4:55 left in the first half. Thomas hit a layup to start a 15-4 Tarleton run over the final 4:55 of the first half to send Tarleton into the half with a lead of 36-27. TheTexAnns opened the second half with a 28-10 run and pushed their lead to as many as 27 points. With about 8:30 left in the game the Pioneers started to come back with a 22-4 run that brought them within ten points of the TexAnns with 2:29 to play. Kathy Thomas ended the run and quickly put the TexAnns back up by 11 with a layup at 1:49.

The teams traded free throws to keep it an 11-point game with a minute to play. After Texas Woman’s failed to convert on their offensive possession, Thomas dropped a bounce pass in the paint to Wright for a wide-open layup at the end of the shot clock with 41 seconds left. Tarleton scored six free throws down the stretch to seal the game.

For the game, Tarleton shot 51-percent from the floor and held the Pioneers to just 35-percent. The TexAnns were 42-percent from the 3-point line and 74-percent on shooting free-throws.

This win moves Tarleton to 26-10 all-time against the Pioneers and 17-2 against them in Stephenville. This is also the fifth straight season in which Tarleton has won its LSC opener.