SAN MARCOS, Texas – A career-high 32 points by sophomore Taeler Deer as well as 25 forced turnovers by the Texas State defense led the women's basketball team to a 64-62 victory over North Texas Saturday afternoon at Strahan Coliseum. The win improves Texas State to 2-1 on the year.


 
North Texas was coming into the game after defeating No. 17 Oklahoma on the road earlier in the week.
 
Along with her 32 points, Deer tallied a team-high three steals as well as one of the team's three blocks. She finished the afternoon going 12-for-20 from the floor and 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.
 
The 'Cats quickly found themselves in a seven-point hole early in the contest, but a 14-8 run including a jumper by Ti'Aira Pitts to cap off the first quarter put the Bobcats up 21-20 over North Texas. Deer jumped out of the gates in the first with a floor-high 10 points.
 
Texas State's lead and momentum continued to grow in the second quarter over the Mean Green. With 2:15 left before intermission, freshman Kiani Lurry nailed a three-pointer off the back board to put the 'Cats up seven. On the next possession, Toshua Leavitt hit another Bobcat three to put Texas State up 10 with 1:44 on the clock. The Mean Green would score before the end of the half, but the Bobcats used all of the second quarter to build momentum and drive over North Texas.
 
Out of the break, North Texas came clawing back by producing an 8-2 run to cut the Texas State lead to two. With 5:26 to play in the third, a lay-up by Bria Frierson tied up the contest for the first time since the first quarter.
 
Texas State bounced back to go back up six with 2:47 on the clock after a jumper by Deer. Another North Texas run to close out the third had Texas State up one with 10 minutes to play.
 
With 9:11 left in the game, North Texas regained for the first time since the final seconds of the first quarter. That lead, for North Texas, grew to as many as seven before the Bobcats rallied once again.
 
A 9-2 run as well as four forced turnovers in just four minutes of play by Texas State gave the Bobcats a push to regain the lead over North Texas. With 1:11 left in regulation, the ball game was tied up at 62-62. With six seconds to play, Deer made her final mark on the contest with a lay-up through traffic to give Texas State the final lead of the day.
 
North Texas called a timeout to advance the ball, but resilient defense by the Bobcats as well as a forced turnover with time expiring granted Texas State the crucial victory at Strahan Coliseum.
 
Lurry finished the night with a career-high 10 points and Ericka May led the Bobcats with six rebounds. The 'Cats shot a season-high 45.5 percent from the floor and finished the game making eight of their 10 shots from the charity stripe. Along with Deer, May also recorded three steals for Texas State.
 
The 'Cats will now travel to Cancun, Mexico for the Cancun Challenge where they will take on Iowa State, Idaho, and Duke from November 26-28. Live stats as well as a live stream will be available at www.txstatebobcats.com.