Tarleton State junior forward Kiara Wright is the nation’s leading rebounder and she put on a show Thursday night, grabbing 20 boards in the LSC Championship quarterfinals.

But that was arguably the third-best part of her game on this night as Wright also scored 30 points and garnered seven steals as the TexAnns rolled through Incarnate Word 74-56 at the Allen Event Center, where they are 4-0 after winning last year’s inaugural tournament in Allen.

The fourth-seeded TexAnns improve to 19-8 and will face No. 1 seed Midwestern State Friday night (6 p.m.) in the semifinals. MSU swept the regular-season series.

Incarnate Word drops to 17-10 and its season could be over. The Cardinals were No. 10 in the latest South Central Regional rankings, with the top eight teams advancing to the regional tournament.

Thursday’s game was all about Wright, who dominated both ends of the floor. She was 10 of 16 shooting, 10 of 12 from the line and had 15 defensive rebounds, along with five offensive boards. She also had two blocks to go along with those seven steals.

The TexAnns jumped out to a 15-6 lead, thanks to nine points from Wright, who had 20 points at halftime, while Incarnate Word scored just 19. The Cardinals trailed 33-19 at the half but did make a push in the second half and closed the gap to seven. In the end, the TexAnns were too strong.

One of the pivotal plays occurred with Tarleton leading by seven with 3:24 to play. Wright knocked the ball away from an Incarnate Word guard and then dove on the floor to coral the ball, before calling a timeout to secure possession.

From there, TSU pushed the lead to 18 for the final margin.

Cheyenne Brown scored 14 points with four assists and five rebounds while Peyton Adamson added 12 points.

For the Cardinals, Ifunanya Mora led the way with 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Ashlyn Green had 15 points and Katy Cook scored 11.

Incarnate Word struggled from the floor, making five of their first 28 shots and finished the game 1 of 11 from 3-point land.
 

Tarleton State Notes
· Tarleton State captured all three meetings with Incarnate Word this season, extending its winning streak over the Cardinals to eight-straight, dating back to the 2008 season.
· The Texans improved to 6-9 all-time in LSC tournament games and remains undefeated on the court at the Allen Event Center, winning its fourth-straight tournament game after capturing the LSC title in 2012.
· Kiara Wright notched her 1,000^th career point with just over 17 minutes remaining in the game, pushing the score to 38-23 for the TexAnns. She became 21^st player in program history to accomplish the feat and the fourth in Tarleton history to record 1,000 points and 800 assists.
· Wright had a double-double by halftime (20 pts., 10 reb.), finishing with 30 points and 20 rebounds for her 22^nd double-double of the year, which leads the nation.
· Wright’s 30-point performance was her second of the season and the 13^th 30-point performance in Tarleton’s NCAA history, dating back to 1994. It is the third of the season for the TexAnns as Peyton Adamson also had a 30-point performance – the first in 12 years for Tarleton.
· Wright’s 20 rebounds marks the fifth time this season she has reached the 20-board mark and the first time she has notched 30 points and 20 rebounds in the same game.

Incarnate Word Notes
• Incarnate Word qualified for the tournament each of the last two years, but both of those tournament runs were ended by Tarleton State: last year in the championship game and this year in the quarterfinals.
 
• Incarnate Word finished with a 2-2 all-time tournament record with wins over Midwestern State and West Texas A&M and two losses to the TexAnns.
 
• At 17-10 and ranked No. 10 in the latest NCAA Division II South Central Region poll, the Cardinals' season is likely done, meaning they probably played their final NCAA Division II game Thursday night.  UIW will join the Southland Conference on July 1, 2013.