Box Score

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State women's basketball team won in thrilling fashion on Saturday afternoon as the Bobcats defeated the Troy Trojans, 87-82, in overtime at Strahan Coliseum. The overtime victory was the first overtime win of the season and first for head coach Zenarae Antoine.
 
The Bobcats (7-11, 4-3 SBC) also recorded the third and fourth double-double of the season as Jacqueline Jeffcoat recorded a career-high 11 rebounds and 11 points while senior Ashley Ezeh added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Texas State jumped out to a 10-2 lead against the Trojans (6-13, 2-6 SBC), forcing eight missed Trojan shots in the first five and a half minutes of the game. That lead grew to as many as 10 before the Trojans slowly worked their way back, taking their first lead of the game with 7:52 left in the half.
 
The following moments showed back-and-forth basketball as there were four lead changes and two ties until 3:17 left in the half. At that point, Texas State hit four straight free throws that ignited a 10-2 run that put the Bobcats up 38-30 with 28 seconds to play in the first.
 
The two squads were balanced on all aspects except for at the free throw line at the half. Texas State found the charity stripe 15 times compared to just six by the Trojans. Both teams shot over 80 percent from the line in the half and each team recorded 23 rebounds.
 
The eight-point Texas State halftime lead did not hold for long in the second half as the Trojans began their second comeback push of the game. With 12 minutes remaining in the game, Troy's Dominique Ross hit a lay-up to tie the game up for the third tie at 55-55.
 
Troy continued that push through the middle of the half, taking over the lead with 10:15 left. That lead proceeded to grow to as many as seven with six minutes left in regulation.
 
Texas State answered the call, however, and stopped the Trojan's momentum. With 4:53 left in the game, sophomore Ayriel Anderson hit a jumper that would start a 5-0 run to cut the Troy lead to two with 3:05 to go.
 
After back-and-forth baskets between the two squads, Texas State found themselves down two with less than 30 seconds left in the game. With 15 seconds to go, sophomore guard Erin Peoples found the basket to tie the game up at 73-all. Tough defense in the final 15 seconds of regulation forced an off balanced shot by Troy's Joanna Harden, forcing the game into overtime.
 
The start of overtime showed to be in favor of the Trojans as they went up four within the first two minutes of play. The resiliency of the Texas State squad proved the Trojans otherwise, coming back to tie it up with a three by Kaylan Martin with 1:37 left to play.
 
After the Martin three that tied it up at 82 apiece, the Bobcat defense held Troy scoreless until the end of the game while extending their lead to five.
 
Harden, the fourth leading scorer in the nation at 24.8 points per game, was held to just 21 by the Bobcat defense.
 
Peoples finished the game leading all players on the floor with 22 points while Martin added 14 and Anderson contributed 10, marking five Bobcat players with double-digit points. Peoples was also one rebound shy of a third Bobcat double-double.
 
The 54 rebounds recorded in the game was the highest total for the Bobcats this season. Earlier in the year against St. Thomas, Texas State recorded 53.
 
The Bobcats will now take another week off of action before traveling to Western Kentucky on February 1. Tip-time in Bowling Green, Ky. is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.