Senior guard Ja’niah Henson scored 14 points as Texas State women’s basketball (3-1) suffered its first loss of the season, 66-62, to Sam Houston State University (3-1) Tuesday night at Strahan Arena.
“I give a lot of credit to Sam Houston,” Texas State Head Coach Zenarae Antoine said. “They came in aggressive and knocked us back. We got our bearings together and battled but just ran out of time.”
Sam Houston’s two starting point guards accounted for 36 of the team’s 66 points. Senior Diana Rosenthal scored 19 while Sidney Kemp had 17. Senior forward Kaylee Jefferson knocked down three threes to finish the game with 11 points.
The Bearkats outshot Texas State in the first half to take a 31-24 halftime lead. In the third quarter Texas State junior guard Tiffany Tullis scored nine points to help the Bobcats take a 42-41 lead going into the fourth quarter. Tullis had her best game as a Bobcat finishing with 11 points and nine rebounds.
With less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter the score was tied at 53-53 until a 10-2 Bearkat run was enough to put the game away.
The game’s deciding factor was turnovers for the Bobcats, as the smothering Bearkat defense forced 26 Texas State turnovers. Sam Houston only committed 16 turnovers.
“We just got to play as a team. Work together to move the ball,” Tullis said. “Go off each other, read each other and that’ll lead to scoring and limit turnovers.”
Texas State will attempt to bounce back from the loss against its next opponent the University of Texas A&M Corpus Christi (2-3). The Islanders defeated Texas State 56-47 last season in San Marcos.
“We have to come out hard. We have to be the ones punching and go hard from the first quarter to the last.” Tullis said.
Tip-off between Texas State and Texas A&M Corpus Christi is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26, at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
