Coming into their second Southland Conference meeting of the season, the Texas State Bobcats and the Lady Colonels were on opposite ends of the spectrum. The Bobcats were tied with the University of Texas at Arlington for the top spot in the conference with a 7-0 record while the Lady Colonels were winless in conference play, losing four of their seven games by five points or less. Included in those losses was a 66-65 loss at Texas State on Jan. 12.
However, when the final horn sounded Saturday afternoon, the teams had reversed roles as the Lady Colonels (4-15, 1-7 SLC) picked up their first conference win, 70-67, while the Bobcats had suffered defeat for the first time in conference play.
Trailing 63-58 with 4:07 remaining in the game, the Lady Colonels began a 12-4 run, highlighted by eight points from junior forward Ami Benya, to close out the game and secure the win. With 0:32 seconds remaining and the Lady Colonels trailing 67-66, Benya scored on a layup to give the Lady Colonels a 68-67 advantage.
On the next Bobcat possession, senior guard Cristin Burdette stole the ball and was fouled immediately to stop the clock. After Burdette sank both of her free throws to up the score 70-67, the Bobcats called a 20-second timeout with 0:11 seconds still on the clock. On their final possession, the Bobcats (10-9, 7-1 SLC) missed all three of their three- point attempts before time expired, giving the Lady Colonels the win.
In past games, Lady Colonels head basketball coach Mark Cook said his team would shut down the opposing team’s best scorer, but the role players would hurt his squad. He said his team did a good job of not allowing role players to be a factor against the Bobcats.
Benya, who recorded her first double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds, was one of five Lady Colonels who finished the game in double figures. Burdette added 14 points while both sophomore guard Jamie Octave and freshman forward Kim Kelson had 13 points apiece. Freshman point guard Katherine Plummer chipped in 11 points and eight assists.
Cook said the balance on offense was due to the team running their motion offense 90 percent of the time.
“People have really been doing a pretty good job of taking our sets away from us so we have to run motion,” Cook said. “At conference time, everybody takes your sets away from you, and if you can’t read what they’re taking away from you and what they’re giving you, then you’re going to have a tough time.”
Texas State’s Tori Talbert also recorded a double-double with 30 points and 14 rebounds, and junior forward Tamara Thompson added 19 points for the Bobcats.
As far as Talbert, Cook said she’s an excellent offensive player.
“She muscles folks pretty well,” Cook said. “She’s out there and she looks like she’s got 25 pounds on anybody I put on her. (Freshman center) Tarin Seely, I thought did a great job on her. I told them (the team) ‘let’s double up inside and make those outside people beat us, not the inside people.'”
Although she said the Lady Colonels did what they needed to do to win the game, Texas State women’s head basketball coach Suzanne Fox said rebounding and defense are things her team needs to work on.
“I felt our defense is not where it needs to be the last few games,” Fox said. “We’ve just been outscoring people. I think this is one that stepped out and bit us because of our defense. I think we’ve got to get better at it.”
Although Talbert and Thompson scored in double figures, Fox said her team’s inability to have a third player in double figures affected the outcome of the game as well.
“We think the key for us is we have to always have three players in double figures to be successful,” Fox said. “If we don’t get a third player (in double figures), we typically struggle. Tonight you notice we didn’t have a third player in double figures, and when we don’t, it’s tough for us to win.”
The Bobcats opened the game with a 14-5 run led by eight points from Talbert. However, the Lady Colonels responded with a 17-8 run of their own to knot the game at 22 with 7:38 remaining in the first half.
Late in the half the Bobcats went on a 7-2 run for a 33-28 lead with 1:33 remaining, but a Burdette three-pointer with 11 seconds left in the half trimmed the Bobcats’ lead to 33-31 at halftime.
Freshman guard Katherine Plummer opened the second half with a three pointer to give the Lady Colonels a 34-33 lead with 19:47 remaining in the game. However, neither team could extend its lead more than five points for the next 15:40. The score was tied on six different occasions during this time span, culminating in a 63-58 Bobcat advantage before Benya and the Lady Colonels made their move.
Benya said being on the positive side of the spectrum after all the close games the Lady Colonels have experienced is great.
“We went in the locker room and all we could do was scream for two or three minutes because we were so overwhelmed and so excited,” Benya said. “We really deserve this. We finally got over that hump and everybody’s just really proud.”
The Bobcats shot 44.3 percent from the field while the Lady Colonels recorded a 39.7 shooting percentage. The Lady Colonels shot 21.4 percent from behind the arc and 92.9 percent from the free throw line while the Bobcats finished the game shooting 16.7 percent from three-point range and 73.3 percent from the charity stripe.
The Lady Colonels return to action Saturday when they travel to play UL-Monroe in a 5:30 p.m. match up.
