Fort Worth, Texas — A blistering 17–2 run spanning the end of the first half and the start of the second gave Central Christian a brief second-half lead, but the Tigers could not hold on in a 61–50 road loss to Texas Wesleyan at the Sid Richardson Center on Thursday night. Central falls to 4–3 overall and 0–1 in Sooner Athletic Conference play, while the Rams move to 5–2, 1–0 SAC.

Down 34–20 with 4:35 left in the second quarter, the Tigers caught fire behind Chloe Clevenger. Central closed the half on a 9–0 burst, sparked by a Clevenger three in transition, a wing three from Mia Kittner off a Clevenger drive-and-kick, and another deep triple from Clevenger in the final seconds to trim the deficit to 34–29 at the break.

Central carried that momentum straight out of the locker room. A mid-range jumper from Cristina Laudan, a slashing layup from Clevenger, free throws from Charmayne Marshall after a Clevenger steal, and then another Clevenger three from the right wing capped an 8–2 spurt to open the third. In all, the Tigers pieced together a 17–2 run over roughly seven minutes of game time, with Clevenger pouring in 11 points during that stretch, adding an assist on Kittner's three, and using her activity on the defensive end to create scoring chances. Her triple at the 7:25 mark of the third quarter gave Central its first lead of the night at 37–36.

Texas Wesleyan, however, responded with a counterpunch of its own, reclaiming the lead before the end of the third quarter and stretching the margin back to double digits early in the fourth. The Rams did their damage at the free throw line and on the glass, finishing with a 41–33 rebounding edge and converting 15-of-21 attempts at the stripe, while Central was limited to 7-of-33 shooting from beyond the arc on the night.

Clevenger led the Tigers with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-9 from three-point range, while adding four rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 32 minutes. Marshall followed with 9 points and a pair of made threes, and Laudan delivered 7 points, a team-high 6 rebounds, a block, and a steal. Off the bench, Kenedi Griffin and Boston Tyler each chipped in 5 points, and C'Niyah Williams battled for 5 rebounds as Central's reserves combined for 15 points.

The Tigers (4-3, 0-1) will travel to Waxahachie, TX to take on the Nelson Univeristy Lions (4-1, 0-1). Game is scheduled to tip at 2pm and can be seen on the Urban Edge Network.