SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Timia Jefferson scored a season-high 15 points, Tiffany Tullis had a season-best 12 points, and Jaylin Foster had her first double-double of the season as Texas State won its sixth straight against UTSA, 65-57 in overtime, on Thursday at the Convocation Center.
 
The Bobcats (4-2) led for more than 32 minutes and fought off the Roadrunners (4-3) for their first road win of the season. It was the first overtime game between the two rivals since December 2019.
 
Jefferson led the nine Bobcat scorers with the game-high 15 points. She had 13 of her 15 points in the second half and overtime, including five in overtime to help the Bobcats seal the victory.
 
Tullis added nine rebounds to go with her dozen points in her hometown of San Antonio. The Cornerstone Christian High product had 10 points in regulation and pulled down four offensive rebounds among her nine total boards.
 
Foster, meanwhile, had 11 rebounds to go with her 10 points for her first double-double in a Bobcat uniform. It was her fifth career double-double after she had four in two seasons at Western Kentucky. The Steele High product, in nearby Cibolo, helped Texas State out-rebound UTSA, 49-46.
 
"It's always fun when you get to play at home," said Texas State head coach Zenarae Antoine about Tullis and Foster playing in the San Antonio area once again. "You never really know how student-athletes are going to perform when they're in front of their people. And I definitely heard their people when we were out there. I'm really proud of them because this is their first go-round at Texas State. Them working together has been a really nice thing to see. They're dynamic in different ways, but it works really well together when you add in the other forwards."
 
The Texas State defense limited UTSA to 5-of-19 shooting over the final 12 minutes in the game, including 2-of-8 in overtime. The defensive effort helped the Bobcats climb out of a small 45-44 hole with seven minutes left in regulation. The Bobcats forced overtime with a Tullis free throw with 28 seconds to go in regulation after UTSA's Siena Guttadauro hit a three-pointer that gave the Roadrunners a 52-51 advantage with 53 seconds left.
 
In the overtime, the Bobcats led the entire way and took command when Foster hit a pair of free throws with under two minutes left and then worked down low for a layup that put Texas State up 61-55 with 1:06 remaining in overtime.
 
The Bobcats were also 7-of-10 at the free throw line in overtime and finished 14-of-23 at the charity stripe for the entire game.
 
"One of the things we challenged our team with was this is what you play for, this is what you work for," said Antoine. "You work a lot of time in score situations. You're on the road against your rival. Let's make this fun. And they really took that challenge on. I really liked what I saw in this game as far as hitting adversity and bouncing back. They made some big runs, they made some big shots, (UTSA) made adjustments, we made adjustments. So, I was pretty confident going into this overtime that this team was going to give it their all. And you know what, they did."
 
The win improved Antoine to 9-5 in her career against UTSA. It was also the third straight win for the Bobcats on the road in the series.
 
Texas State started out strong thanks to an 11-0 over a 2:19 stretch late in the first quarter that gave it a 15-6 lead. Five different Bobcats had points over the stretch, including Foster who drained her lone three-pointer of the night to cap the run.
 
The Bobcats led by as much eight points, 22-14, in the second quarter thanks to five points in the first two-and-a-half minutes by Crystal Smith.
 
UTSA climbed back, though, tying it up at 22-22 with an 8-0 run. The Bobcats took the lead back when Tullis hit one of her two free throws and then Sierra Dickson drilled a three-pointer on the right wing to make it 26-22 with 2:39 to go in the second. Julia Coleman later made it 28-23 with a lay-up nearly 30 seconds later before the Bobcats entered halftime with a 28-25 advantage.
 
"It's interesting when you talk about rivalry games, and in this particular situation, we have eight newcomers," said Antoine about the strong start. "It's like when you get married into it, you're the in-law of the situation. But right away, once you have an understanding when our returners talked about it, you have an opportunity to really understand it. Our San Antonio young women understood it, too. I think they bought in right away. We have a lot of Bobcat pride and we want to continue what was done in the past. There's a legacy of being able to win here (at UTSA), which is not easy to do. I think that's what we saw, that locked-in mentality."
 
With around five minutes to go in the third quarter, the Roadrunners took their first lead since late in the first quarter at 35-34, but on the next possession, a clean-look three-pointer by Nicole Leff made it 37-35 Texas State.
 
Texas State missed five straight field goals early in the fourth quarter which allowed UTSA to take a 45-44 lead at the 6:24 mark. Ja'Niah Henson stepped up, though, as her only three-pointer of the night snapped Texas State's cold stretch to give the Bobcats a 47-45 advantage with 5:25 to go.
 
The Bobcats extended their lead to 48-45, but UTSA tied it up at 49-49 before a lay-up by Foster after back-to-back misses by Texas State on the same possession returned the lead to Texas State at the 2:01 mark. Over a minute later, Guttadauro hit her go-ahead three-pointer.
 
After Tullis' game-tying free throw, Texas State had a stop and rebound on UTSA's final possession in regulation, but the Bobcats could not convert an in-bound play with 0.8 seconds left on the clock to take the game into overtime.

Texas State also only had eight turnovers to UTSA's 12. The eight were the fewest by a Bobcats in a game since Feb. 18, 2023 against South Alabama (8).

The Bobcats will now return home for a matchup against UNT Dallas on Sunday at 3 pm in Strahan Arena.