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

Losing Streak Continues After Loss To Roadrunners

The Texas State Bobcat Men's Basketball teams' road woes continue as they fell to the UTSA Roadrunners 86-76 in the I-35 Rivalry Game. The offensive shooting struggles continued with the Cats, but the rebounds and free throws proved to be the deciding factor in this game, as Texas State suffers it's fifth straight loss.

Although lacking one of their star player's in Devin Gibson, the UTSA Roadrunners Senior Forward Travis Gabbidon, Junior Guard Omar Johnson, and Junior Forward Josh Bonney were able to pick up the slack and handily defeat the desperate Bobcats.

The Roadrunners jumped out to an early 6 point lead before the Bobcats had even scored a point. The Bobcats were able to make a quick comeback and tied the game at 10 when Senior Guard Corey Jefferson nailed a 3-pointer. From there, Texas State increased it's lead after Sophomore Center Ty Gough scored a deuce and Sophomore Guard Ryan White hit a lay-up to give the Bobcats a 14-10 lead. Senior Guard Brandon Bush gave the Texas State road fans something to cheer about when he hit a three and soon followed with a feed from Forward John Ryback for the "and 1" to give the Bobcats their largest lead of the game at 21-14.

Unfortunately the Bobcat lead would dwindle from there, and after the tie at 25-25, the Bobcats would struggle on both ends of the court, leading up to the second half. UTSA had 16 offensive rebounds in the first half alone.

The second half would not get much better for Texas State, as UTSA showcased the offensive skills of Omar Johnson and Travis Gabbidon on the Bobcats. Brandon Bush was the main offense for the Bobcats, as Cameron Johnson and Brent Benson were on the bench for much of the game because of early foul trouble. A big problem for Texas State trying to get back in the game was that no Bobcat could make back to back shots, and often UTSA would get the defensive rebound and the bucket. The Bobcats got within 8 points a couple times late in the second half, but the scoring difference proved too big of a gap to overcome. The final score was the UTSA Roadrunners by 10 points, 86-76.

The biggest discrepancy between the two teams came from the free throw line and the glass. UTSA shot 70% from the line on 37 attempts, while Texas State shot 62%, which gave the Roadrunners 18 points more at the line than the Bobcats had. UTSA had 51 rebounds, 22 offensive, to the Cat's 40 and rarely did it seem that the Roadrunners did not grab any open board that the Bobcats overlooked.

Brandon Bush led Texas State with 28 points and Texas State as a team shot 43% from the field, better than UTSA's 40% from the field, however from behind the arc Texas State shot just 18% to the Roadrunner's 40%.

The loss puts the Bobcats at 1-5 in Southland Conference play and 8-11 overall.
UTSA moves up to 3-2 in SLC play and 12-6 overall.

The Bobcats will look to rebound from this loss, snap their five game losing streak, and get their first road win of the season when they travel to Arlington to take on UTA this Saturday at 4pm.

Casey Torres- KTSW Sports Staff Writer

Bobcats Let Win Slip Away Against I-35 Rival

The Texas State Bobcats hosted I-35 rival UTSA on Wednesday night at Strahan Coliseum. The #2 ranked Roadrunners came into the Coliseum on a 1 game win streak in the Southland Conference. The #5 Bobcats needed a win to stay in the hunt for the Southland Conference Tournament. The game was part of the I-35 Rivalry between Texas State and UTSA.

Other than the opening tip being won by the Roadrunners and the proceeding three point shot, the Bobcat's were in control for most of the game, and the entire first half. Coming out with a lot of intensity and energy to match up against a tough opponent, the Bobcat's took control of the boards, offensively and defensively. The Roadrunner offense was held in check and only Amber Gregg and Monica Gibbs kept the Runner's in the game. Gregg started the game going 2-3 from beyond the three point arc and Gibbs had 3 assists in the first half. Onika Anderson and Ryba Pawlaczyk were held to just 4 points and 7 rebounds, collectively.

The Bobcats came out on fire, led by Victoria Davis. By the 7 minute mark in the first half, Davis had already collected 7 rebounds, 6 points, and 2 Back-to-Back blocks. Her intensity and Birthday Girl's, Aimee Hilburn's, extra hustle had the Bobcats going into the half with an 11 point lead. Hilburn took care of the boards practically by herself and was a force to be reckoned with on the defensive side of the ball. Although her stats didn't quite show her impact on the game, (9 points and 4 boards) she was all over the court and definitely runner up in player of the game behind Victoria Davis. Hilburn and Verinus Kalu picked up for Davis when she left the game for the remainder of the first half after a nagging knee injury flared up on her. Kalu kept the intensity on the court and had numerous defensive plays that would increase the Bobcats' lead before half.

In the second half, the Roadrunners looked like they were starting to get things together early, scoring on their first two possessions. However, with the return of Victoria Davis the Bobcats increased their lead and at the 15 minute mark in the second half the 'Cats were up 40-25. Their largest lead of the game would be 17 points shortly thereafter. The intensity started to decline for the Bobcats around the 10 minute mark and the RoadRunners took advantage, cutting the lead to 45-35 with 7:52 remaining. The Bobcats had no plan to stop Gibbs and Gregg who along with Jordan Stark and Onika Anderson brought the game even closer in the last 5 minutes. Gibbs' dribble drive penetration left Gregg and Stark open for big threes late in the game and Onika Anderson started to get going down low and made her 8 points worth the patience.

With the lead slipping away late, the 'Cats had a couple of late opportunities to tie or take the lead. However, Kim Cessna and Aimee Hilburn were unable to hit late threes to tie the game to give the Bobcats a chance. After playing the first 30 minutes of the game at a higher intensity, the 'Cats looked as if they were losing the edge to the Roadrunners in the last 2 minutes. Late field goals by the Roadrunners left the 'Cats looking to tie with three point attempts by Hilburn and Cessna. After a quick drive down the court by Victoria Davis with 30 seconds left and down 2 the Bobcats looked as if they might have a chance, but Junior Jordan Stark, put the Runners up 4 with 2 big free throws late.

The loss was the first for the Bobcats at home this season and drops them down to presumably last place in the Western division of the Southland Conference. Their next game is slated for Saturday at 2 p.m. against UT-Arlington. That game is to be played in Strahan Coliseum and can be heard on 89.9 KTSW and txstatebobcats.com.

Will McGinnis- KTSW Sports Staff Writer

Bobcat Basketball Drops Fourth Straight Game

The Lamar Cardinals came to Strahan Coliseum Saturday night and snapped a three game losing streak beating the Bobcats 71-65. The loss pushes the Bobcats losing streak to four games and their second straight loss at home. It was a hard fought battle but the Cats came up on the short side once again.

The Bobcats opened up the game with an 8-4 lead with two three point baskets; the first by John Rybak and the second by John Bowman. Things quickly started to turn from there. The Cardinals went on a 10-4 run to push the score to 18-12 and never looked back. The Bobcats lost the lead with 16:23 left in the first half and never regained it.

After gaining a 15 point lead, the Bobcats went on a 5-0 run off of two baskets by Cameron Johnson to end the first half down 38-28. It was the Bobcats shooting woes and defense that kept them from closing the gap more. They shot 31 percent from the field in the first half and 40 percent from the free throw line while allowing the Cardinals to shoot 53 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc.

Opening up the second half with a Corey Jefferson jumper, the Bobcats began to inch closer in to the Cardinals lead. There were three stretches of basketball where no team scored for two to three minutes at a time. During these stretches the Bobcats continued to miss free throws, but managed to chop down the lead from 10 points to 5 with 3:17 remaining in the game. The score stood a 62-57 after a layup by John Bowman.

The Cardinals brought the lead back out to 8 points after a made free throw and a lay up by Kenny Dawkins, with 1:02 left, and the Bobcats looked to be out of the game but never gave up the fight. Brent Benson made it to the line for his first free throws of the night and made both. The Bobcats stole the ensuing in-bound pass and a John Rybak jumper got the Cats back into the game down four points with :36 left.

After the Cardinals’ Jay Brown missed both of his free throws, Brandon Bush missed his three point attempt that would have made it a one point game. The Cardinals made their last four free throws of the game to close out the Cats.

Johnson did all he could to keep the Bobcats close scoring 19 points and pulling down 13 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough. Rybak chipped in 13 points and Bush grabbed 10 rebounds. On the other side, Brown had 16 points and 10 rebounds while Brandon McThay added 14 points and Ashton Hill put up 13 points to assist the Cardinals. The Bobcats won most facets of the ball game leading in rebounding, assist and steals while giving up six fewer turnovers than the Cardinals. The game defining difference was in shooting percentage. For the game the Bobcats shot 35 percent from the field, 21 percent from three point land and 52 percent from the line. The Cardinals made 49 percent of their shots and made eight more free throws than the Cats. With 52 fouls called during the game the Cats continue their fight with the officials. Three starters played substantial minutes with four fouls with Rybak fouling out with :04 remaining.

The Lamar Cardinals improve to 11-7 on the year and to 2-3 in conference play. The Bobcats fall to 8-10 on the season and 1-4 in conference. The Bobcats try to snap the losing streak next week in the I-35 rivalry against UTSA in San Antonio. The game tips off at 7:00 pm and you can listen in on 89.9 KTSW.

Dalton Sweat- KTSW Sports Staff Writer

Bobcats Fall In Last Second Shot To The Lady Cardinals

It took a last second shot miss by Vicki Davis for the Texas State Bobcat Women’s Basketball team to go down to the first place SLC leading Lamar Lady Cardinals 64 – 61. The Bobcats went into Saturday’s action (2-2) in Southland play and were trying to wrap up a tough road trip after falling to rival Sam Houston State earlier in the week. The Lamar Cardinals came into the game at (3-1) and tie for Southland Conference first place with the UT-A Mavericks and were looking to improve their overall record with stellar play from their starting five.

The game started with the absence of leading point scorer Ashley Cole, who did not play due to an ankle sprain suffered in the game against UCA. Even though Cole didn’t play, the Bobcats took out to an early lead to start the game until Lady Cardinals Guard Ang Green started to heat things up from beyond the arc, making (4 of 5) three pointers in the first half alone. It was a combination of good shooting from beyond the arc for the Lady Cardinals and poor shooting by the Bobcats that had really opened up a comfortable lead for the Lady Cardinals. The Bobcats were shooting 21 percent from the field just before standout freshman Kelsey “Suppa” Kruppa came on the floor and hit back-to-back three pointers to keep the Cats in the game. At the half the Bobcats cut the lead to 15 with the scoring total still lacking with a 35-20 Lady Cardinal Lead.

Head Coach Suzanne Fox and her Coaching staff must have made the appropriate halftime adjustments because the Cats came out of the locker room and started attacking the basket at every opportunity. The Bobcats were struggling from everywhere on the floor shooting, but rarely missed when they got their chance at the free throw line. The Bobcats shot their first free throw of the game at the start of the second half and immediately cut down the Lady Cardinal lead with their aggressive play.

The Cats improved their shooting through out the game by finding good looks and easy baskets, but were still consistently trading baskets with the Lady Cardinals, who were still shooting well from beyond the arc. It wasn’t until Vicki Davis and Gabby Mattox started making excellent feeds down to the post when the Bobcats set the stage for their comeback. The Bobcat defense stepped up and forced the Lady Cardinals to commit 20 plus turnovers through out the game. The Cats inched their way back into the ball game and were still down by 10 points with about four minutes left to go in the game.

The momentum swung the Bobcats way with back-to-back-to-back steals by the defense that ultimately ended up in 6 unanswered Vicki Davis baskets. With the Bobcats down by four and with just under two minutes left in the game Gabby Maddox found Amiee Hilburn under the basket, who drew the defensive foul and completed the three point play. The lead that the Lady Cardinals had built up was now down to one point. The Lady Cardinals then converted an easy bucket, made by Brittny Williams, that extended their lead by three points. The Cats answered with Gabby Mattox making a basket off of a Vicki Davis missed shot. The Bobcats were running out of time and had to start fouling and put Nikki Williams to the line, Williams converted her free throws to make the score 64-61 with: 15 seconds left on the clock. The game concluded with a chance to tie the game, when Vicki Davis threw up a three point shot that rimmed in-and-out with time running out.

The Bobcats now fall to a (2-3) Southland Conference record and an (8-9) overall record and finally get to head back home to play in front of the rejuvenated Bobcat crowd. The Cats will take the court against I-35 rival UTSA Roadrunners on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. As most people, including the Bobcats, would agree that this could be a must win even though this will only be the 6th SLC game the Cats will play. With the Western division of the SLC being so good, it's hard to come back late in the season if you don't produce wins consistently. The Bobcats hope to get back to .500 and stay in contention to get into the Southland Conference Tournament, which only takes the top eight teams of the entire conference. You can tune into all the action on stretch internet through txstatebobcats.com, while the Men’s game will be on 89.9 KTSW at the same time.

James McNeal- KTSW Sports Director/Blog Editor

Men's Hoops Fall To Bearkats In 2009 Edition Of Stuff Strahan

The Texas State Bobcat Men's Basketball team was greeted by the Loud Crowd Crazies of Strahan Coliseum Wednesday night, but fans did all they could as the Cats finished the night just several free throws short and fell to the Sam Houston State Bearkats 79 to 75. The Bobcats now fall to a record of (8-9) on the season and (1-3) in Southland play. Credit to the 2,500 fans who showed up for what turned out to be just another hard fought SLC battle.

The Bobcats went into the game coming off their second straight loss to the Central Arkansas Bears and also went into the game without Freshman Forward Emmanuel Bidias a Moute, who will be inactive for the rest of the season due to academic reasons. The Cats started off the game with a Brandon Bush three-pointer which gave the crowd something to cheer about early on. The Bobcats jumped out to a 7-2 lead within the first three minutes of the game, but as the Bearkats defense started to stiffen up, the Bobcats offense started missing easy buckets. For the rest of the first half the Bobcats struggled to find their shot while the Bearkats offense cruised their way to a comfortable nine-point lead with five minutes left to go in the half.

The Bobcats finished the first half strong after a John Rybak three-pointer and a couple of lay-ups to get the score within reaching distance with the Bearkats up 37 to 32 at the break. The Cats shot just 34 percent from the field in the first half and had no three-pointers made by their leading point scorer of the season, Brent Benson, who had only three points in the first half; while Brandon Bush showed for most of Cats points with nine.

The second half started with the Bobcats taking better shots and tying the game up several times. There were several lead changes throughout the second half with both teams playing stellar defense making it tough for their opponent to get away with any easy buckets. The Cats started to get into foul trouble early in the second half with Brandon Bush and Corey Jefferson picking up their fourth fouls of the game with over 10 minutes left to play. The Cats put the Bearkats to the line after every foul with 10 minutes left in the game and with the Bearkats hitting their free throws, it was tough for the Cats to regain momentum and take the lead down the stretch.

Brandon Bush went out of the game with four minutes left to play after picking up his fifth foul. Bush finished the game with 16 points and 4 rebounds. With Bush out of the game the Bobcats did a good job battling back by getting good looks at the basket and keeping the score within a couple of possessions. Brent Benson started to wake up late in the game when he went to the line several times and made his first three-point shot of the game with :47 seconds left to play. Benson's shot got the Bobcats within three points with the Bearkats up 74 to 71. The Cats made the appropriate fouls, but Freshman Guard Drae Murray stepped up for the Bearkats draining his three free throws, and then Senior Guard Ashton Mitchell finished the Bobcats off by hitting two free throws with four seconds left in the game giving the Bearkats their second SLC victory with a final score of 79 to 75.

The Bobcats shot 42 percent from the field and shot a mere 58 percent from the free throw line leaving 11 points off the board from the charity strike. The Bobcats, who are mostly known for their good shooting, came up short with little baskets made from beyond the arc. The games the Bobcats have lost seem to find the same cliche theme of "live and die by the three-point shot" as the Cats went (6-21) from three-point land. The Bobcats Defense played good enough to win the game, but it proved too much for the Bobcats with the Bearkats hitting their free throws down the stretch.

The Cats now fall to (1-3) in Southland Conference play and are going into Saturday's game against the Lamar Cardinals where the Bobcats will try to break a three game losing streak. You can listen to all the Bobcat Men's Basketball action on txstatebobcats.com or join other Bobcat fans stuff Strahan Coliseum to cheer their Cats to victory.

James McNeal- KTSW Sports Director/Blog Editor