SAN ANGELO - It took an extra five minutes of play, but the No. 2/5 Angelo State women's basketball team earned its 11th straight win to start the season Thursday, defeating Tarleton State 81-74 in overtime at Stephens Arena at the Junell Center.
The Belles (11-0, 5-0 LSC) only outscored the TexAnns in the first quarter and overtime period, but it proved to be enough as ASU came away with the seven point victory.
ASU was led in the game by Jasmine Prophet, who recorded her second straight double-double by scoring 20 points on 8-18 shooting and grabbing 11 rebounds. Keanna Kelly and forward Bria Frierson both also scored in double digits in the matchup, adding in 13 and 12 points, respectively. Prophet and Kelly both stepped up big on the defensive end of the floor, with Prophet leading the team in blocks at four and Kelly adding in a pair of blocks and a steal as well.
Chenelle Pelle was close to reaching the double digit scoring mark as well, using her post game to get nine points in the matchup.
Taylor Dorsey, the Belles' leading scorer on the season, was defended well by the TexAnns, scoring only seven points in the matchup. It was only the second game all season that the senior guard has not reached the double-digit scoring mark. The Fort Worth native made an impact in other ways during her team-leading 40 minutes of play, however, recording seven assists as well as three steals in the matchup.
The Belles were hot to begin the game, using a 10-4 run to take an early lead. ASU slowly continued to build on the lead in the opening period, and a Khiana Curry three-pointer pushed the lead to ten with 23 seconds left in the first quarter. One made free throw by the TexAnns cut the lead to nine, ending the first quarter at 26-19.
Early in the second quarter is when the Belles' lead reached its peak, as a Kelly three-pointer and Prophet layup pushed the gap to 14. Following the Prophet layup, however, the TexAnns got hot behind the arc and reeled off an 11-2 run to close the gap to just five. A 5-2 run to close the half kept the Belles up seven heading into the locker room.
Although Angelo State pushed its lead to eight early in the third quarter, the period would end with the two rivals tied up at 54. The TexAnns used an 11-2 run midway through the period to take their first lead of the night at 50-49. The Belles were able to get back on top at 54-52, but a TSU jumper would tie the game up going into the final period of regulation.
Tarleton's biggest lead of the night came within the first two minutes of that final period, as a 6-2 to begin the quarter gave them a four-point lead. ASU responded with an eight-point run, however, to retake the lead. It took a jumper and a pair of Tarleton free throws to tie the game up, forcing the overtime period. It is the first overtime game since defeating West Texas A&M in Canyon last season.
The extra five minutes belonged to the Belles though, as the team nearly doubled TSU's scoring in the final five minutes. Down by four with a minute to play, the TexAnns were forced to foul, and the Belles put the game away at the charity stripe.
Winning their 11th straight game gives the Belles their best start to a season since 2002-03, when the team started with 16 straight wins. ASU will look to take another step toward that streak on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 2 p.m., as the Belles take on Texas A&M-Commerce in the Stephens Arena at the Junell Center.
