March 4, 2009
Final Stats
San Antonio, TX - Aimee Hilburn led the Texas State Bobcats with a career-high 25 points, including 16 in the second half Wednesday night against I-35 rival UTSA, but the mark could not make up for a slow-moving first half and Texas State fell in an 80-70 decision at the Convocation Center.
Texas State is now 12-15 overall and 6-9 in the Southland Conference, while UTSA shifts to 20-8 and 13-2, respectively.
The I-35 rivalry opened with a quick pair of layups from both teams before Texas State lost four-straight possessions on turnovers and watched UTSA go up 7-2 at the 17:24 mark. Gabriell Mattox made up for the errors a minute later, rebounding her own shot for the basket underneath and led Texas State on an 8-5 run to tie the game at 12 points each.
UTSA offset the surge with a 5-0 run and Mattox was there again with a layup and a dish to Chika Ofoegbu in the paint for a one-point game. Alysse Davis grew the Roadrunners lead to four on a three-point inbound play, but Aimee Hilburn matched the effort for a 21-19 game with 8:58 left to play in the half.
Texas State missed their final nine attempts from the field and UTSA used a 15-6 run to take a 35-25 lead at the break.
It was an even showing out of the second half with the teams going point-for-point, but UTSA led capitalized at the free throw line and led by as many as 17 points before taking the ten-point decision.
For the game, Texas State went 12-for-19 at the stripe, while UTSA went 21-for-28 in the second half alone. Monica Gibbs was a key contributor to the offense, going 14-for-18 in the half and finishing with a game-high 28 points.
The Bobcats last fight for lead came at 4:16 when Kim Cessna intercepted a Roadrunner inbound play for two points in the paint and led Texas State on a 6-0. Down 70-62, three free throws from Gibbs were erased by a long three-pointer from Hilburn. Mattox added a free throw to for a seven-point margin and the closest mark for Texas State.
Mattox finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds and Cessna added 17 points to aid the Bobcats.
Texas State shot 39 percent from the field, going 27-for-70. UTSA shot 48 percent with a 25-for-52 effort.
The Bobcats final game of the regular season will be Sunday, March 8 at Strahan Colisem when the team hosts Sam Houston State at 2 p.m. A ceremony recognizing seniors Ryann Bradford, Ashley Cole, Kim Cessna and Brittany Wilson will take place before the game.
