Women's College Basketball: 'Cats move into first

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Texas State sophomore guard Jasmine Baugus drives against Stephen F. Austin’s Ashlee Mells in Wednesday night’s game. Baugus scored eight points in the Bobcats’ 95-87 win. Gerald Castillo

February 2, 2012

By Tyler Mayforth Daily Record Sports The San Marcos Record Thu Feb 02, 2012, 03:38 PM CST

San Marcos — Texas State senior guard Kelsey Krupa couldn’t contain her excitement following her team’s 95-87 win over Stephen F. Austin.

Krupa, who recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, just found out the Bobcats were in sole possession of first place in the West Division of the Southland Conference. It was a long time coming for Krupa, whose teams in her first three years lost more than twice as many conference games as they won (13-35 record).

Texas State (13-7, 5-2 SLC) was in third when the night began, but thanks to its win and a loss by first-place Sam Houston State to McNeese State, Zenarae Antoine’s team hopped into the driver’s seat.

“Our team is really focused on [being in first place],” Krupa said. “They’re coming through and it was a team effort. We’re excited.”

Krupa was one of five Bobcats (all starters) to score in double figures Wednesday night, as sophomore forward Demi Clinch, sophomore forward Ashley Ezeh, junior guard Diamond Ford and sophomore guard Kaylyn Martin also came through.

Ford led all scorers with a career-high 34 points to go along with six rebounds and two assists. She became the first Texas State player to score more than 30 points since former standout Joyce Ekworomadu poured in 37 nearly four years ago.

The Bobcats also got to the free-throw line consistently against the Lady Jacks. Texas State set school records in both free-throws made (45) and attempted (60), falling just short of the conference mark in both (46 and 61).

Four Bobcats attempted double-digit free throws, with Ford canning 16-of-18 and Martin dropping in 10-of-14. Ezeh made 9-of-12, while Krupa went 6-of-10 from the charity stripe.

“Every opportunity we put ourselves in, we are very aggressive offensively,” Antoine said. “We want to be right there at the arc. We want to be at a position where we can put the other team in peril ... and that’s part of who we are.”

Daring play put Texas State to the free-throw line, helping counter a 12-basket advantage by the SFA (14-6, 4-3), while big 3-pointers brought Antoine’s team back in the game and into the lead for good.

The Bobcats trailed by as many as nine in the second half, but a 3-pointer by Clinch cut it to three. Then seven minutes, 46 seconds later, sophomore guard Jasmine Baugus buried a long trey to put Texas State up by two.

“It felt amazing hitting that three,” Baugus said. “It got all of us up and got us hyped, then we got stops after that.”

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