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
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