Bobcats defeat Denver to improve to 6-3 overall

The Texas State Bobcats defeated the Denver Pioneers 72-46 to improve their overall record to 6-3.

Coming off the loss to Oklahoma State in their last outing, the win over the Pioneers was the response the Bobcats and point guard Ja’Ninah Henson needed to have.

“[This game is] very important considering we have conference in just a couple games,” Henson said. “We had to shake that loss off at Oklahoma State and come together as a team, and we did that. From a team standpoint, it was about staying on top of the things our coaches ask of us whether it is plays or just being ready to play.”

The Bobcats got off to a hot start by jumping out to a 13-5 lead with the help of three pointers made by both Henson and guard Gara Beth Self.

Texas State continued their offensive in the first period as the Bobcats held a 22-13 lead over the Pioneers heading into the second quarter.

Denver made progress in the second period as the Pioneers cut the lead down to 29-20 with just 5:10 remaining in the period.

But any spark of regaining control of the game was soon extinguished as the Bobcats closed out the period on a 13-2 run to take a commanding 42-22 lead heading into halftime – capped off by a buzzer beating three pointer by Henson.

“It’s something that we practice,” Henson said. “We work on shots like that into the shot clock. I just trusted my instincts and shot the shot.”

Denver was unable to close the deficit by more than 15 points as the Bobcats put their foot on the gas pedal to outscore the Pioneers 16-10 in the third period.

Heading into the fourth, Texas State led 58-32.

The deficit was too much to overcome for Denver as the Bobcats notched their sixth win of the season 7246.

Henson led the team in scoring with 14 points followed by Jaylin Foster with 13.

Head Coach Zenarae Antoine was proud of her team for not only winning an important non-conference game but also being able to bounce back following their loss last Saturday.

“The one thing that I really appreciate about our team is the understanding that you need to be able to go from a game, whether it was a win or loss,” Antoine said. “To find a way to answer for things we need to get better at. That’s what we saw tonight. We did a really good job of making sure that we were focused on scouting but also focused on us and what we need to do, what we need to get better at.”

One of the key differences in the game for Bobcats compared to their last outing was the third quarter as Texas State was outscored by Oklahoma State 24-10 in the third quarter en route to a 67-52 loss to the Cowgirls.

Texas State was able to put away their third quarter woes against Denver to outscore the Pioneers 16-10.

“That halftime response was going to be really important for us,” Antoine said. “Knowing Denver in the third quarter is great for them knowing that they come out with an excellent timeout response. Being able to squash that and at least exceed while being prepared for that was important. [Texas State] definitely understood that we came out better than Oklahoma State. If you look at all four quarters, we ‘quote on quote’ lost the game in the third quarter or unraveled for a period of time. That was the defining difference between the two games.”

Texas State will be back on the road this week as the Bobcats will participate in the Florida International Christmas Tournament.

The Bobcats got their first win of the tournament Monday morning as Texas State defeated Florida International 67-62.

Texas State will take Chicago State today at 1 p.m.

cmcwilliams@ sanmarcosrecord.om Twitter: @ColtonBMc