SAN MARCOS, Texas – Despite Saniya Burks' third double-digit night of the season in her 24-point outing, the Bobcats fell 77-65 to UTRGV on Monday night.
 
Burks led the team in scoring with her 24, but she was one of three Bobcats in double digits including Deja Jones who had 10 and freshman Kaliyah Murphy with her career best so far of 13. Murphy also tied with Kyra Anderson to lead the team in rebounds.
 
WHAT HEAD COACH ZENARAE ANTOINE SAID: "This is really tough. It's tough for the coaching staff. It's tough for myself. We chose a preseason conference schedule so we are competitive to get ourselves ready for the Sun Belt, and we find ourselves coming up short in different ways in different games."

HOW IT HAPPENED: 
The Vaqueros started off the game with effective shooting that gave them a 16-6 lead early in the game. From there, the Bobcats battled back to make it 19-16 off a Deja Jones layup. The Vaqueros got one final bucket in the dying seconds to make the first quarter score 21-16.
 
UTRGV controlled the second quarter with 6-11 shooting and lead 37-19 at the halftime break.
 
The Bobcats fought hard in the third quarter, though, outscoring UTRGV 26-21 to make it a 13 point game after the third quarter. The third quarter was highlighted by nine points from Burks on 3-6 shooting and another eight from Kyla McBride on 3-5 shooting. 
 
The Bobcats continued to press in the fourth quarter but were unable to fully overcome the deficit. At one point Texas State brought the score back within nine points in the final minute of play. Despite their best efforts, Texas State ran out of time to mount a comeback and fell 77-65.

STAT LEADERS

• Points – Saniya Burks (24)
• Rebounds – Kaliyah Murphy, Kyra Anderson (6)
• Assists – Kaliyah Murphy, Saniya Burks, Kyra Anderson (2)

 
SCORES BY QUARTER
1st | Texas State 16, UTRGV 21
2nd | Texas State 6, UTRGV 16
3rd | Texas State 26, UTRGV 21
4th | Texas State 20, UTRGV19

UP NEXT
Texas State will head on the road for a game at Texas A&M – Corpus Christi on Nov. 20 at 11 a.m. The team will then return home to host Tarleton State on Nov. 25 at 7 pm inside Strahan Arena. Those games will both be streamed on ESPN+ and fans can purchase tickets at txst.com/tickets for all Bobcat home games.