Nov. 20, 2005

Box Score

ARLINGTON - Elizabeth Nwoke knocked home 18 kills and earned Southland Conference Tournament MVP honors, as Texas State (17-14) shut out Texas-San Antonio (18-11) in the SLC title game at Texas Hall.

Joining Nwoke on the all-tournament team were Amy Ramirez and Karry Griffin, while the Bobcat offense also saw a spark from Lawrencia Brown's 14 kills in the 30-20, 30-25, 30-27 title win.

Texas State dominated game one, beating UTSA 30-20 to open the match. The Bobcats started with the game's first three points and never trailed in the ten-point opening-game win.

Texas State extended the lead to 9-3 on a Brown kill, and maintained the advantage at 18-10 by outscoring the Roadrunners 9-7. A pair of Roadrunner scores brought UTSA back within six at 18-12, but another 9-3 Bobcat run would help to cement the victory.

The run put Texas State on top 27-15, but a 3-0 response from the Roadrunners brought UTSA back within nine at 27-18, forcing a Texas State time out.

Out of the break, kills by Griffin and St. Francis coupled with a UTSA serving error at game point enabled the Bobcats to outscore the Roadrunners 3-1 en route to the ten-point win.

Texas State again led from wire-to-wire in game two, at one point leading by as much as 11 on the way to the 30-25 game-two win.

The Bobcats opened the second game in the same fashion as the first, notching the first three points to help open a 9-4 lead. The `Cats continued to apply pressure to the Roadrunner defense, going on an 8-5 clip that made the score 17-9, and the run forced UTSA's first time out of game two.

UTSA posted a point following the pause, but a 5-1 Texas State run that included four Bobcat kills pushed the lead to 22-11, forcing another Roadrunner time out.

Texas-San Antonio responded to the second time out, posting three consecutive points that knocked the Bobcat lead down to eight. Following a Texas State time out, a pair of Bobcat kills made the score 24-14, but four straight UTSA points sliced back into the Texas State lead and made the score 24-18.

Nwoke slammed home a point to stop the UTSA run at 25-18, sparking a 4-1 run that put the Bobcats on top 28-19. UTSA fought back, outscoring Texas State 6-1 to shave the lead to 29-25, but Texas State nailed game point to go up 2-0 heading into the intermission break.

Texas State clinched the tournament title in game three despite falling behind early, beating the Roadrunners 30-27 to win the match 3-0.

Griffin gave Texas State the lead with a kill to open game three, but four straight Roadrunner points gave UTSA its first lead of the match at 4-1.

Texas State fired back with three straight to tie the game at 4-4, and the game would tie seven more times before a pair of UTSA points put the Roadrunners on top 13-11 and forced a Bobcat time out.

Two more Roadrunner points came from the time out to put UTSA up 15-11, but Texas State shot back with a 3-1 clip that shaved the Roadrunner lead to two at 16-14.

Texas-San Antonio managed to regain control, using a 4-1 run to go up 20-15, but again Texas State fired back into the game with a 5-1 spurt that cut the UTSA lead to one and forced a Roadrunner time out.

Leading 21-20, UTSA got a block out of the time out to go up by two, but Texas State went on a 7-3 clip to take a two-point, 27-25 lead. The run gave Texas State its first lead since a slim 6-5 advantage and forced the Roadrunners to call a time out.

Texas State came out of the break with a point to go up 28-25, but UTSA fought back with a pair of scores to get back within one at 28-27. Texas State slammed the door on the UTSA run, however, scoring the next two points on the way to the three-point win.

Nwoke's 18 kills led the offense, followed by Brown's 14, and Erin Hickman set the offense with 44 assists in the title win. Three Bobcats led the defense with nine digs, while Brown and Griffin each posted five blocks to lead the `Cats up front.

Texas State's next action will come in the first round of the NCAA tournament, and the Bobcats' first-round opponent will be determined Sunday when the NCAA sets its tournament bracket.