Box Score l Postgame Notes

San Marcos, Texas – In a back-and-forth game, much like the teams' matchup last season, the Texas State women's basketball team defeated Belmont, 82-76, Friday night at Strahan Coliseum. Diamond Ford led all scorers with 21 points, five rebounds and three assists.

The game opened in the same fashion as last December's between the Bobcats and Bruins. Texas State raced out to a 22-7 lead nine minutes into the game. From there, Belmont answered going on a 28-12 lead, including a three-pointer at the buzzer to take a 35-34 lead into halftime.

Belmont stretched its lead to as much as nine in the second half, thanks to Molly Ernst hitting four three-pointers on the night. The Bruins were up 55-46 with 13:34 to go in the game.

For the next seven minutes the Bruins held off the Bobcats' charges, not letting the home team get back on top, despite cutting the lead to one multiple times. Finally after taking the lead briefly, Texas State went on top for good thanks to an Ayriel Anderson steal, leading to a fastbreak Jasmine Baugus layup with 2:47 to go, giving the team a 70-69 advantage.

Texas State, which struggled at times defensively last season, made a big surge with its defense, which had eight steals on the night. Ford made one of the biggest of the game, taking the ball away and going coast-to-coast for the layup which gave the Bobcats an 80-73 lead, sealing the contest.

 Texas State looks to go to 2-0 with another rematch from last year, as the Bobcats will travel to Denton to take on North Texas on Monday, Nov. 12 at 7:00 p.m.