Women's Basketball Surrenders Late Lead, Loses Heartbreaker to Islanders

Here's some good news and bad news for Bobcat fans: the good news is that the Bobcat women's basketball team put forth their best effort on the season on the road against a stacked Texas A&M - Corpus Christi squad. The bad news is that Texas State surrendered the lead in the last four minutes of the game and lost to the Islanders anyway, 78-72.

The start of the game looked to be yet another sluggish start for the squad, as the Islanders exploded out to an early 10-1 lead. Nightmarish visions of blowout losses such as Houston, UTEP, and the infamous 99-18 Baylor loss likely started to materialize in the heads of visiting Bobcat fans just as the game got underway. However, unlike in out-of-conference play, something encouraging happened: The Bobcats responded. Texas State stormed back to tie the game at 10, and at that point, it was "Game on."

Both teams traded blows throughout the entire game, and Texas State held the lead throughout most of it. The Bobcats went into the first half leading 37-35, and never let the Islanders get further than a tie throughout the first 18 minutes and 45 seconds of the 2nd half. Victoria Davis continued to drain some impressive jumpers and led the team with 16 in another "Duel of the Davises," while Diamond Ford pitched in 14 points and Chika Ofoegbu had arguably her best effort of the season, registering a double-double off of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Bobcat players were flying all over the court, making crisp no-look passes and executing the fast break with relative ease.

Then, as the clock winded down towards the final minutes of the game, the wheels came off for Texas State.

A&M-CC had been hanging around mainly via a large free throw disparity in the second half that made some Bobcat fans and coaches scratch their heads a bit because both teams were hacking at each other mercilessly. Texas State seemed determined to not let that be a factor though as they made a run to put their opponents away with four minutes left. Kelsey Krupa and Diamond Ford hit clutch back-to-back threes, and the Bobcats held a 68-64 lead and the momentum with four minutes left. But then, disaster struck when senior forward Aimee Hilburn was tagged for a phantom fifth foul with 3:53 remaining. It was clear that the young Bobcat team became a bit unnerved by the loss of experience out on the floor, as well as some occasionally poor officiating shown by referees Doug Williams, Jacob Tingle and Casey Harp.

The Bobcats then had issues with scoring, holding onto the ball and attacking the Islander 2-3 zone that they had dissected relatively well throughout the game. A&M - Corpus' Adrienne Scott hit a three with 2:14 remaining to pull the Islanders within 1. A supposed turnover by Diamond Ford was clearly tipped out by TAMUCC's Deziree Green right in front of us at the scorer's table, and Green had a bit of a smirk on her face when the ball was given to the Islanders. Immediately after the blown call, Jade Davis, who scorched the Bobcats for 24 last year in Corpus and scored 30 in this year's edition, launched and nailed a fadeaway three despite outstanding defense from Ford to put the Islanders up 70-68 with 1:15 remaining. The Bobcats never recovered after that.

So what decided the outcome of this game? TAMU-CC was clutch when it counted and Texas State wasn't. The Islanders hit their shots in the last three minutes, while the Bobcats got frustrated with bad calls and missed shots, which you can't do if you want to win. Rebounding, specifically boxing out, was a major issue for the Bobcats, who got outrebounded 46-38 on the game. TAMU-CC also had a stunning 20 offensive rebounds and an impressive 15 second-chance points. The Islanders also hit their free throws in the last minute when Texas State tried to get the ball back, and that ultimately iced the game.

Ultimately, give TAMU-CC the credit they deserve, they earned this one.

Texas State drops to 4-9 on the season and 0-2 in SLC play with the loss. The 'Cats will look to set a number of "firsts" in their upcoming road game against Central Arkansas, as they try to get their first conference win, first road win and first win against a Division 1 opponent. This team has steadily improved since their disastrous loss to Baylor, so it should be a good one. Tip-off for the Bobcats-Sugar Bears game will be at 2 pm, pregame coverage starts at 1:45 pm in the first game of a Texas State basketball doubleheader. You can listen live on 89.9 FM KTSW, ktsw.net and txstatebobcats.com.

-Will Butler, KTSW Sports Director/Blog Editor