ALLEN, TEXAS – After finishing regular season play in fifth place, the University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team will make a run for the Lone Star Conference title.  The Cardinals open up the conference tournament with a quarterfinal game against No. 4 seed Tarleton State on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Allen Event Center.

The Cardinals (17-9, 13-7) have outscored their opponents this season by 3.1 points per game.  Leading the Cardinal offense is senior Ashlyn Green (Irving/Irving HS) who averages 12.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game.  Junior Rose Whitehead (Grapevine/Grapevine HS) is the only other Cardinal averaging double figures with 10.5 points per game.  Junior Michelle Hale (Albuquerque, NM/Rio Grande) leads the team in rebounds with an average of 6.2 per game and senior Katy Cooke (Marble Falls/Marble Falls HS) has dished out a total of 59 assists this season to lead UIW in that category.

Incarnate Word finished the regular season leading the LSC in scoring defense (58.1 ppg) and turnover margin (+4.42). The Cardinals also maintained the second place spot in steals per game with 10.1.

Tarleton State (18-8, 14-6) finished the season tied for third place in the Lone Star Conference.  Kiara Wright leads the TexAnns with 17.2 points and 14.0 rebounds per game.  The LSC Player of the Year also leads the team with 56 steals and 31 blocks.  Peyton Adamson is another key player in the TexAnn's offense. Averaging 15.6 points per game, she is the only other player averaging double figures. Adamson is shooting 42.8 percent from the field and 45.0 percent from three-point range.

Last year, entering the tournament in seventh place, the Cardinals knocked off the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds before falling to the No. 1 seed Tarleton State in the championship game, 48-44.

The Cardinals lost both meeting to the TexAnns this season. At home, the Cardinals fell to Tarleton 78-71, and in Stephenville, UIW dropped the game by a larger margin, 88-74.  The Cardinals are 8-13 all-time against Tarleton State.
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