STATESBORO, Ga. – A valiant fourth quarter comeback fell short as the Texas State women's basketball team suffered a 78-64 defeat at Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon. The 'Cats cut an 18-point deficit to single-digits numerous times in the fourth, but 18 trips to the free throw line for Georgia Southern lifted the Eagles out of reach for Texas State.
 
How It Happened:
Hot shooting (10-for-14) from the floor in the first quarter for Georgia Southern quickly lifted the Eagles to a 23-11 advantage over the Bobcats. The Eagles took a quick 4-0 lead over the visiting Bobcats before baskets by Ericka May and Kiani Lurry tied the game back up at 4-all. Back-to-back 3's by Georgia Southern sparked a 19-7 run through the end of the first quarter.
 
The Eagles' lead continued to build to as many as 19 with 5:06 to play in the second quarter after a lay-up by Angel McGowan. A 3-pointer on the next possession by Ayriel Anderson put an end to a 10-0 Georgia Southern run.
 
Taeler Deer added another 3-pointer after Anderson's to cut the Eagle lead down to 13, 35-22, with 4:18 to play in the second. The teams went on to exchange baskets through the end of the period.
 
After Georgia Southern made the first two buckets in the third quarter, Texas State put together an 8-0 run to cut the Eagle lead back down to nine, 43-34, with 6:37 on the clock. A 3-pointer by the Eagles halted the Texas State run and Georgia Southern quickly retaliated to go back up 18 with 2:55 left in the third.
 
Down 16 with 10 minutes to play, Texas State took just under five minutes to cut the Eagle lead back to nine by forcing multiple turnovers by the Eagle offense. The first Texas State run was capped by another 3-pointer by Anderson.
 
In all, the Bobcats forced eight Eagle turnovers in the fourth quarter while committing just one.
 
Foul trouble, however, plagued Texas State and for the entirety of the fourth quarter, Georgia Southern made 18 trips to the line while converting on 13 of them. Texas State went just 2-for-3 from the line in the fourth.
 
Texas State saw the Georgia Southern lead come back down to nine two more times in the fourth, but a 9-4 run including five free throws by the Eagles to end the game lifted Georgia Southern to the 16-point win.
 
The Bobcats struggled on the boards, losing the battle 43-23 against Georgia Southern. From the floor, Texas State shot 40.6 percent with 10 made shots in the fourth quarter. From beyond the arc, Texas State made eight shots with four of them belonging to freshman guard Toshua Leavitt.
 
Who Stood Out:
Toshua Leavitt finished the day with a career-high 16 points while matching her career-high of four made 3-pointers … Ericka May and Kiani Lurry also scored in double-figures for Texas State with 11 and 10 points … Ayriel Anderson made two 3-pointers in five attempts to finish with eight points … Raven Burns set a career-high with three steals and three assists.
 
What It Means:
Texas State falls to 10-11 on the year and 5-6 in Sun Belt Conference play. That was the final regular season meeting with the Eagles and therefore the teams split this season. This also marked the first loss for Texas State against Georgia Southern. Now, Texas State owns a 3-1 advantage over the Eagles.
 
The Bobcats are now on a three-game skid and in the last two games, Texas State was without Kaitlin Walla, its leading scorer.
 
Up Next:
Texas State returns home for the next four, where it is 7-1 this season, beginning with UT Arlington Tuesday afternoon in the Mid-Day Classic. Tip-off against the Mavericks is set for 1 p.m. at Strahan Coliseum. The Mid-Day Classic features free tickets (up to four) for faculty and staff as well as free pizza for Texas State students. The Bobcats are also going to welcome students from local elementary schools.