DENTON, Texas (Feb. 1) – TWU sophomore guard Kenesha Saygo scored a career-high 28 points but it wasn't enough as the Pioneers dropped their second straight overtime game, 82-76, at Tarleton State on Sunday afternoon.  TWU is now 12-9 on the season and 5-5 in the Lone Star Conference.
 
Saygo led four Pioneers in double-figures on 9-for-22 shooting.  She also went 9-for-12 from the free-throw line.  Senior Ashley Salazar and sophomore Erin Maxwell scored 12 points each for TWU while sophomore Emily Spector added 10 points to the Pioneers' cause.  Maxwell also had nine rebounds and a career-high six blocks.
 
The Pioneers scored the first basket of the game but Tarleton State scored the next 10 points to take a 12-2 lead.  TWU cut the deficit to four points twice during the first half but the TexAnns pushed it back to 10 with 4:15 left on the clock.  The Pioneers used a 6-2 run in the final four minutes to make it a 35-29 score at the break.
 
TWU carried the momentum into the second half and scored six straight points to tie the game at 35-35 at 19:09 mark. After 10 ties and 11 lead changes, TSU led 67-65 at 1:15 mark but Salazar tied the game with a tip-in with 35 seconds left in the game.  The TexAnns got off two shots in the final seconds but Maxwell blocked both to send the game into overtime.
 
Both teams traded baskets early in the overtime before TSU took a 76-71 lead on an old-fashioned three-point play and two free throws.  The TexAnns sealed the game going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final 35 seconds.  Saygo scored seven of the TWU's nine points in the overtime.
 
"Another tough loss in overtime," said TWU head coach Beth Jillson.  "We dug ourselves a hole early in the game but rallied to take the lead in the second half.  Defensively we played well in the second half and held them to 27.8 percent shooting.  We didn't get the defensive stops we needed when we had the lead late in the second half and early in the overtime."
 
The Pioneers will return to action when they travel to Lawton, OK, to face Cameron on Thursday, Feb. 5.  Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in Aggie Gym.