Texas State women’s basketball (10-7, 1-4 Sun Belt Conference) was defeated by the University of Louisiana-Monroe (11-5, 3-2 Sun Belt Conference) 73-63 Sunday afternoon at the Fast-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, Louisiana.
“We talked a lot about our first and third quarter starts as a group, and we let our start get away from us,” Texas State Head Coach Zenarae Antoine said. “We kept chipping away and trying to fight our way back. We had a great response out of halftime. [I’m] really proud of that effort; we ran out of time, unfortunately.”
ULM graduate student guard Lauren Gross hit four threes in the first half alongside junior guard Jakayla Johnson, who added 13 points, five rebounds and five assists.
The Warhawks went on a 16-0 run, establishing a 21-10 lead after the first quarter. Despite a 19-point second quarter, Texas State trailed 49-32 at halftime.
The Bobcats found some momentum coming out of halftime with an 11-0 run, bringing the deficit down to single digits, but could not stop the Warhawks from scoring as they pulled away with a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Junior guard Katlyn Manuel provided a spark off the bench for the Warhawks as she finished with 18 points and ten rebounds. Johnson finished with a team-high of 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for ULM.
Graduate student guard Ja’Niah Henson finished with a game-high 21 points for Texas State. Henson was the only Bobcat to finish the game in double digits.
Texas State will look to rebound from the loss in its next game against Troy University (7-8, 4-1 Sun Belt Conference).
“We will bounce back and learn from this road trip as we continue to get better as we go through conference play,” Antoine said.
Tip-off between Texas State and Troy is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, January 18, at Strahan Arena in San Marcos. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
