Texas State women’s basketball dropped to 2-3 on the season following a 60-79 loss at home to the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks Friday night at Strahan Arena.
Junior guard Avery VanSickle led the Ladyjacks in scoring with 18 points. Senior guard Faith Blackstone scored 14 points as Stephen F. Austin’s second-leading scorer.
“The game started out, and we were on fuego. [There were] a lot of positives,” Texas State Head Coach Zenarae Antoine said. “As Stephen F. Austin did a good job making adjustments, we struggled [to get] some pretty good stops [and] we started turning the ball over quite a bit in that second quarter.”
Antoine spoke about what factors harmed the team’s success on both sides of the ball for the Bobcats.
“Our turnovers festered, and then our inability to stop them from getting paint touches or kicks for shots [cost us],” Antoine said. “Then you saw frustration setting in, and that makes it really difficult.”
The Bobcats opened the first quarter strong against the Ladyjacks, holding a lead of as much as ten points with under five minutes left in the opening quarter. Texas State led Stephen F. Austin 25-18 at the end of the quarter.
“We started aggressive, and we did what we do well as far as moving the ball and getting paint looks and touches,” Antoine said. “We were aggressive defensively that first quarter, and we did not turn the ball over as much.”
The Maroon and Gold increased their lead to 16 after opening the second quarter with a 9-0 run. The Ladyjacks responded with a 15-0 run of their own to cut the Texas State lead down to one point going into halftime.
Stephen F. Austin grabbed control of the game in the third quarter, winning the quarter with a score of 24-3, finding itself with a 59-39 lead.
The Ladyjacks maintained their lead in the fourth and defeated the Bobcats with a final score of 79-60. Stephen F. Austin is now 5-0 and remains undefeated this season.
Texas State will travel to UTRGV Field House to face UT Rio Grande Valley (1-3) on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 2 p.m. UTRGV’s lone win this season came in its season opener against the University of Houston. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
