Despite leading for more than 37 minutes of the contest, Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball dropped an extremely competitive game at home to Tarleton State by a final score of 54-52 Saturday afternoon.

The Greyhound defense played well for the majority of the game and forced 19 turnovers while recording 11 steals and four blocked shots but with Eastern running into foul trouble late in the game, its defense faltered. Three ENMU post players fouled out in the final quarter of play as the Texans took control of the game’s momentum and mounted a 12-0 run to end the game including a go-ahead layup with eight seconds left on the clock.

The backcourt tandem of sophomore Zamorye Cox and redshirt freshman Natalie Stice paced the Hounds offensively as the each finished with a game-high 15 points. Cox added five rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals while Stice finished shooting 50 percent from the field on 4-for-8 shooting.

Senior Natalie DeLonge scored ten points as the third Greyhound to record double-digit scoring totals while junior Alivia Lewis led all competitors with ten rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Both teams shot 17-for-57 from the field and even though the Hounds managed one more three-pointer than the Texans, the visitors made up for it at the line. ENMU shot just 62.5 percent from the charity stripe with 15 made free throws while the Texans converted at a 75 percent clip from the line and totaled 18 free throws.

TSU knocked down a quick corner three to begin the game but a jumper from Cox sparked a 10-0 Greyhound run. DeLonge added a contested layup, Lewis drilled a jumper just inside the elbow before the rally was capped off by a three-pointer from Cox.

The highlight of the quarter came with three seconds left on the clock as junior Laura Rowe secured a defensive rebound and pushed the ball up the court to Stice. With a hand in her face and time running down, Stice nailed a deep three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to give the Hounds a 14-9 lead after the first quarter.

The High Plains squad outscored the Texans 13-12 in the second and 12-9 in the third, leading by as much as 13 points at the 2:54 mark of the third frame. In the fourth quarter Tarleton found its grove and rattled off 24 point while limiting the Hounds to 13 with key Greyhound players forced to sit due to foul trouble. The Texans bench played well and outscored the Hounds reserve players 21-1.

With the Hounds in the thick of the Lone Star Conference Playoff push, Eastern will pack its bags for its final road trip of the season next week as they travel to LSC standings leader #3 Texas A&M-Commerce on Thursday before facing UT Tyler on Saturday.