JONESBORO, Ark. — Texas State — despite trailing by double-digit points in the fourth quarter — had an opportunity to take the lead in the game's closing seconds, but Kennedy Taylor's pull-up baseline jumper rimmed out as Arkansas State hung on to win, 54-53, Friday night.

"Tonight showed that this team wasn't willing to go out without a fight and I think that's really true about who these young women are," said Bobcat head coach Zenarae Antoine. "My expectations are that we come out stronger and smarter tomorrow. 

"We can't put the home team at the free throw line to that degree and not expect it be a momentum changer for them. And another piece is we have to put the ball in the hole. We had so many opportunities and we have to be able to finish these shots."

Minutes after Avionne Alexander converted a layup attempt to cut Texas State's deficit to five at 47-42 with 7:42 remaining in the game, Arkansas State (6-1, 1-0) went on a 5-0 scoring run to extend its lead to 10 with 5:29 left in the fourth quarter. 

Lauryn Thompson, who tied Kennedy Taylor with a team-high 11 points, scored one of her five baskets on a layup just seconds later. Thompson, who had scored 10-or-more points in four of her last five games, again cut the Texas State (4-4, 1-2) deficit with a second consecutive layup in as many minutes. Alexander made it a four-point game when she made an uncontested fast-break layup off a Jada Stinson turnover. Da'Nasia Hood rode the offensive momentum, too, as the junior forward knocked down a pull-up jump to draw the Bobcats to within two points. 

Less than a minute later, Hood struck again when she sank a jumper at the elbow to tie the game at 52-52 with 1:18 left in the fourth. 

It took 48 seconds for the tie to be broken when Thompson sank the back-end of two free throws to give the Bobcats their first lead of the game since the 9:13 mark of the second quarter. 

Clinging to a one-point advantage and less than 30 seconds to play, the Texas State defense withstood the challenge until Trinitiee Jackson made a contested layup with 15 seconds left to push the Red Wolves ahead 54-53. 

Texas State immediately called a timeout to draw up a play, but Hood lost the basketball trying to split an Arkansas State double-team attempting to execute. 

With seven seconds remaining, Arkansas State committed an in-bounding violating as the player inbounding underneath the basket moved along the baseline, which gave the Bobcats a second life. 

Following a 30-second timeout, Taylor in-bounded the basketball to Alexander, who brought the defensive attention around the floor leaving Taylor open in the corner. After receiving the pass, the junior point guard took two dribbles towards the basket and pulled up for a shot, which rolled around the rim and even kissed the backboard, but ultimately fell into the outstretched arms of Jireh Washington with 1.6 seconds left. 

Despite Washington missed both free throws, the Bobcats were unable to get a potential game-winning shot attempt off before the final buzzer. 

The two teams will go at it again on the hardwood on Saturday, Jan. 9 with tipoff scheduled for 4 p.m.