Bobcat Women Now Losers of Three Straight to Sam Houston State

The Texas State women’s basketball team suffered an absolute heart breaker tonight, losing to rival Sam Houston State 85-81. This victory broke the Bearkats' eight game losing streak and lengthened Texas State’s slump to four consecutive losses.

Emotions ran high in Strahan Coliseum as the two conference rivals began their contest. From the very first seconds of the game, it was apparent that the Texas State team seemed sluggish in comparison to the Bearkats. The Bobcats began making mental errors early on in the game, and unfortunately for them the mistakes stayed present with the team throughout the entire match. Texas State allowed 14 turnovers by the end of the first half.

Although Sam Houston State had less than a perfect game, allowing 23 total turnovers of their own, the Bearkats did commanded the scoreboard from start to finish. There was even a point when the Bobcats were down by a deficit of 16 points. The Bearkats played aggressively from the tip, especially in their smothering man-to-man defense. Within the first few minutes the Bearkats demonstrated their aggressive defense by forcing steals, poor shots, and questionable passes from Texas State. Offensively, Sam Houston dominated by capitalizing on the Bobcat’s errors. They had several fast-break opportunities after steals that lead to easy lay-ups. The Bearkats also showed an impressive presence behind the three-point line; the team made a total of 12 baskets from downtown compared to the Bobcats who only made three out of eight attempts.

Although Texas State started the game a bit lazily, they played their hearts out in the last five minutes. Freshman Diamond Ford had an exceptional night, putting up a career high of 28 points. Veteran Victoria Davis also had a strong game, putting up 22 points of her own but unfortunately their powerhouse performances were not enough to secure the win for the team. In the last two minutes of the game Texas State was able to reduce the score deficit to just one or two possessions. But the Bobcats attempts to take the lead in the final seconds fell short and sadly their efforts just proved to be too little too late. SHSU's Khamra Echolls sank a free throw with eight seconds remaining to put the Bearkats up by four, and that would be the dagger in the hearts of the 'Cats.

Texas State’s record falls to 0-4 in the Southland Conference and their overall record is now 4-11. The women’s basketball teams is scheduled to play Lamar this Saturday at 4:00 pm, KTSW pre-game coverage will begin at 3:45.

-Lauren Scalise, KTSW Sports Staff Writer