SAN MARCOS, Texas – Sophomore guard Kennedy Taylor sunk a lefthanded layup to force overtime with seven seconds in the fourth and the Bobcats came through in the extra period to beat rival UTSA (3-5) 74-69 inside Strahan Arena on Wednesday night. Texas State (5-2) won its first overtime game since 2015 when it downed UTA and have captured six of the last seven matchups against the Roadrunners. The Bobcats continued their success at home this season and improved to 5-0 in San Marcos.

"Anytime you get the opportunity to play in a rivalry game, it's exciting," said Texas State head coach Zenarae Antoine. "Anytime you get to send your seniors out with a win is also really exciting. Even though the game went into overtime, I knew we were going to get the next five minutes because slowly but surely our team worked harder and was not going to give up."

Both teams started the contest shooting the ball well from the floor and UTSA led 36-33 at the intermission. Texas State had its best quarter in the third when it outscored the Roadrunners 17-11 and capped off the stanza with an 8-0 run to take a six-point lead into the fourth period.

In a physical game, each side traded blows in the fourth quarter. With the game tied at 60 and 35 seconds on the clock, UTSA split a pair of trips to the free throw line to allow Taylor to score the game-tying bucket. Texas State defended the last seven seconds of regulation and got a pivotal stop as junior forward Jayla Johnson drew a charge.

In overtime both sides were deadlocked with 1:34 left. Taylor again converted a driving layup and was fouled the next possession and capitalized with two free throws to put the game on ice.

Taylor posted a career-high 22 points, was ultra-efficient from the floor (8-for-9, 1-for-1 3fg) and recorded three assists.

Senior Brooke Holle scored 16 of her 19 points after halftime and set new career marks at the free throw stripe (8-for-10). Johnson (11) and Hood (10) also entered double-figures as four Bobcats scored in double-digits for the first time this season. Senior guard Bailey Holle hit two key trifectas in the second half.

Texas State continued its season-long trend of forcing turnovers as it pressured the Roadrunners into 21 miscues and held a decisive advantage in points off turnovers (21-9). UTSA did lead in points in the paint (30-28), second chance points (11-5) and fast break points (7-4). The Roadrunners had the upper hand on the glass, 47-31.

The Bobcats shot 38% (26-for-69) from the floor, 25% (4-for-16) from three and 75% (18-24) from the foul line. UTSA connected on 46% (26-for-57) from the field, 23% (3-for-13) from downtown and was 64% (14-for-22) at the charity stripe.

Freshman guard Mikayla Woods lead all scorers for UTSA with a career-best 24 points.
 
Up Next

The Bobcats will take an 11-day break from competition before heading out for a roadtrip to the Eastern Seaboard. Texas State will play Dartmouth at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15 and Morgan State at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18.

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