NEW ORLEANS, La. – A third quarter surge by the Trojans of Little Rock lifted the No. 2 seed to a 62-50 victory over the No. 7 Texas State women's basketball team in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championship Wednesday evening.
 
How It Happened:
Several early charges drawn by Kaitlin Walla and Raven Burns combined with a pair of jumpers and free throws by Ayriel Anderson and Burns lifted Texas State to an early 6-0 lead over the Trojans. With under five minutes left in the first quarter, Little Rock scored four quick points to quickly cut into the Texas State lead.
 
Within 15 seconds of entering in the game at the 3:44 mark, Taeler Deer came up with a steal and a fastbreak lay-up to put the 'Cats up five, 9-4, over the Trojans.
 
A jumper by Little Rock's Kaitlyn Pratt cut the Bobcat lead down to one with 2:55 to play in the first, but two more free throws by Anderson and a jumper by Walla with 46 seconds on the clock put the Bobcats up 13-10 after the first quarter.
 
Seven straight points to open the second granted Little Rock its first lead of the contest. Another lay-up by Anderson with 3:40 left before half put the 'Cats on the board in the second and cut the four-point Trojan lead in half. A jumper by De'Jionae Calloway a minute later tied up the game at 17-all.
 
The squads exchanged baskets for the rest of the quarter and Little Rock took the upper hand at the half, 23-22, with a Shanity James lay-up with two seconds to play.
 
Texas State forced nine Little Rock turnovers in the first half.
 
The Bobcats started slow again to start the third, but this time the Trojans capitalized. Within three minutes of play, the one point halftime lead for Little Rock grew to eight after an Alexius Dawn 3-pointer. Four quick points for the Bobcats with 5:19 to play cut the Trojan lead back down to four, but that would prove to be as close as the 'Cats would come for the remainder of the game.
 
Little Rock went on to outscore Texas State 19-8 in the third quarter.
 
With 7:05 to play in the game, Little Rock's lead grew to 13 after another lay-up by James. The Bobcats answered, however, with an 8-0 run capped by a Burns' 3-pointer to come within five with 5:50 on the clock.
 
A timeout called by Little Rock cooled off the Texas State run and for the rest of the contest, the Trojan defense held the Bobcats to just 2-of-6 shooting from the floor.
 
Texas State finished the game shooting 40.0 percent from the floor and the 'Cats outscored Little Rock 24-20 in the paint.
 
Who Stood Out:
In their final games as Texas State Bobcats, Ayriel Anderson and Raven Burns led the team with 20 and 11 points, respectively … Anderson's 20 points was a season-high and in the last two games, she and Burns have led the 'Cats in scoring … Anderson finished the night going 9-for-10 from the charity stripe and 5-for-11 from the floor … Ericka May and Whitney Apari led the team with five rebounds each.
 
What It Means:
Texas State finished the season with a 12-19 overall record. The Bobcats have made the tournament all three seasons they have been a member of the Sun Belt Conference and this was the first season the 'Cats have not advanced beyond the quarterfinal round. Ayriel Anderson and Raven Burns will graduate this summer and next year Texas State gladly welcomes the return of All-Conference guard Erin Peoples.
 
With three 3-pointers against the Trojans, Texas State finished the season with a school record 232 made 3-pointers. The total surpassed the previous school record set last year of 207.