SAN MARCOS, Texas – Seniors Ayriel Anderson and Raven Burns were celebrated Saturday afternoon in their final home game as Texas State Bobcats. The team, however, suffered a setback on senior day as it fell 70-56 to South Alabama.
 
Anderson and Burns led the team in scoring with 19 and 17 points, respectively. Anderson drained a team-high three 3-pointers while finishing 7-for-11 from the field.
 
How It Happened:
South Alabama held the Bobcats scoreless for the first five minutes of play while jumping out to an early 6-0 lead. Four straight points by Burns put the 'Cats on the board with 3:58 remaining in the first. The Jaguars answered with a 7-2 run of its own that was halted by an Anderson 3-pointer with 24 seconds on the clock.
 
The first quarter lead of seven for South Alabama dwindled down to three with 3:12 left in the second due to tough defense by Texas State. In just six and a half minutes of action, the Texas State defense forced six South Alabama turnovers. In the first half alone, South Alabama had committed 17 turnovers.
 
A Toshua Leavitt 3-pointer was the shot that cut the Jaguar lead to three and it would prove to be the closest Texas State would come for the rest of the contest. South Alabama stormed back with an 8-2 run to close out the first half.
 
The third quarter of play experienced swells in the South Alabama lead. With 4:10 left in the third, the Jaguar lead grew to as many as 18. The Bobcats went on to respond and cut the lead down to nine with 43 seconds to play.
 
A pair of free throws by Kiani Lurry and a 3-pointer by Anderson ignited the Bobcat run to cut the Jaguar lead back down to single digits.
 
The Bobcats stayed within single digits of the Jaguars with as little as three minutes left in the game, but an 8-3 run in the final stretch lifted South Alabama to victory over the Bobcats.
 
Who Stood Out:
Seniors Ayriel Anderson and Raven Burns led the Bobcats Saturday afternoon in their final games as Bobcats … Anderson matched her season-high with 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor … Anderson also led the Bobcats with three assists … Whitney Apari led Texas State with four rebounds … The Bobcat offense rebounded from beyond the arc and shot 8-for-20 (40.0 percent) to close out the regular season.
 
What It Means:
Texas State falls to 12-18 and 7-13 in Sun Belt Conference play. The Bobcats, with the help of an Appalachian State loss on Saturday, have earned the No. 7 seed in the upcoming SBC Tournament. Texas State ultimately split the series with South Alabama this year and the win for the Jaguars was the first against the Bobcats all-time.
 
Up Next:
Due to being the No. 7 seed in the tournament, Texas State will play the No. 2 seeded Little Rock in the 5 p.m. game at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, La. For all information regarding the championship, go to sunbeltsports.org.