Must Win Ends In A Loss For Coach Fox And Her Squad

With the first half of the Southland Conference schedule in the books, the Texas State Bobcat Women’s Basketball team came into this matchup with a “must win” mentality. Going into the matchup against upstate rival UT-Arlington, the Bobcats were 2-4 in conference and 8-10 overall. After a very physical showing from both sides, The Lady Mavericks, who now share the top spot in the Southland Conference after coming away with the narrow victory over the Bobcats 71-66.

The game started off a little sloppy as both teams were turning the ball over at will, and it seemed as if neither team could get into any kind of offensive rhythm. Junior Aimee Hilburn got off to a solid start for the Bobcats with a few tough offensive rebounds and put-backs early on, as the Cats struggled to find open looks and forced a lot of tough shots early on in the first half. The Mavericks committed a flurry of turnovers in the first half, and the whole game for that matter, including seven traveling violations in the first thirteen minutes.

The Mavericks used good transition offense as well as the lack of blocking out by the Bobcats to take control of the first half as it looked like the Mavericks might run away with the victory earlier than expected. However, Gabrielle Mattox lead the Bobcats on a 9-2 run at the end of the half with a couple of big buckets and a couple of good hustle plays on defense which lowered to deficit to single digits at halftime with a score of 35-27.

The second half started with both teams trying to make offensive adjustments, and the Mavericks did so with back-to-back successful jump shots as well as a few big offensive rebounds that put the lead into double digits once again for the Mavericks. Once again, it looked as if the Bobcats would let this game get out of hand—but to the Cats credit, they certainly did not die.

Senior Ryann Bradford got things going offensively for the Bobcats as she hit back-to-back jump shots that seemed to open up some opportunities for the Cats as they immediately started to get in a groove on offense. Kim Cessna and Gabrielle Mattox simply took over the game on the offensive side, and Victoria Davis created a few turnovers with her athletic ability that put the game into reach for the Bobcats now only trailing 59-54 with three minutes left in the game.

Down the stretch, the referees called a number of very controversial fouls against the Bobcats that put UT-Arlington star Candice Champion on the line a few times for some easy points. With the game coming to a close, Kim Cessna simply took over with a couple of huge shots, as well as a big three point play that put the Bobcats into striking distance with a score of 68-66 with 27 seconds left in the game. The Bobcats scratched and clawed in the last seconds of the game, but fell short as the Mavericks hit their free throws down the stretch and ultimately put the game out of reach with a final score of 71-66.

Kim Cessna, Gabrielle Mattox, and Aimee Hilburn showed a lot of heart and grit down the stretch, but the effort was not enough. Cessna ended up with a solid 21 point performance, as Mattox and Hilburn each pitched in 15 points. With this loss, the Bobcats fall to 2-5 in the Southland Conference and 8-11 overall, as they now sit at the bottom of the Southland conference West division.

The Bobcats will need to post victories in just about all of the remaining games in conference play in order to gain a top 8 spot in the conference which would allow them to participate in the Conference Championship. The Bobcats travel to Hammond Louisiana on Wednesday to take on Southeastern Louisiana as they try to get back on track towards success. You can listen to all the games action on 89.9 KTSW for the call with the pre-game show slated to start at 6:45 p.m.

Weston Warner- KTSW Sports Staff Writer