TXST WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
In the showdown between the Texas State Bobcats and the Ohio Bobcats, it was clear the Bobcats would take the victory. However it was Ohio playing spoiler.
Despite a 34-point effort from sophomore Saniya Burks, 34 turnovers plagued Texas State from getting the win, falling to Ohio 72-66.
“This one was tough,” Head Coach Zenarae Antoine said. “It was a game of emotions. We were down, we fought our way back up, it was tied and came down all the way to the wire. … One of the areas that I know that we have to take care of clearly is the turnovers.
“That’s a ridiculous amount of turnovers. It’s something that we’ve been working on and addressing at practice so I’m aware that’s something to work on.”
The highlight of the night came from Burks, who became the first Bobcat player to score 30 points in a game since Da’Nasia Hood in 2023.
Coming off the bench to start the game, Burks gave Texas State the spark on offense, hitting three consecutive three pointers to give ‘State the lead at 11-6.
Later in the third quarter with the Bobcats trailing 45-35, Burks scored 10 points as part of an 11-1 run to tie the game up for the Bobcats 46-46 going into the fourth period.
“Coming off the bench, I looked at all the open reads on offense,” Burks said. “I saw where I could get my shots off and what was open, and I wanted to get my team more momentum when I came off the bench.”
Also in the third period, after giving up 22 points in the second, the Texas State defense held Ohio to just eight points to help tie the game up.
“The communication is what we talked about,” Antoine said. “We talked a ton about communicating, doing a great job of communicating a lot of their switches, where they kept screening, flaring, screening, rolling, screening and slipping. Then closing out covering their shooters and then for sure it was boxing out.”
Both teams fought back and forth, trading the lead as the game was tied at 61-61 with less than four minutes remaining in the game.
But Ohio closed out the period on a 11-5 run to hold off Texas State, winning 72-66.
Texas State will be on the road for the first time this season as they head out to West Texas to face off with the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Texas Tech is coming off a 78-40 win over North Carolina A&T.
Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. Sunday at the United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock.
