Bobcats unable to overcome Monarchs comeback in loss

Texas State was unable to overcome an Old Dominion second-half comeback as the Bobcats fell to the Monarchs 66-58 in front of a packed house during San Marcos CISD Field Trip Day.

It was a tough loss for the Bobcats and Head Coach Zenarae Antoine, who dropped their second game in a row and fell to 2-8 in conference play.

“I felt like we were locked into the game plan going into the day,” Antoine said. “We clearly had an understanding that they’re the No. 1 defensive team and we’re right there at No. 2. It was going to be a dog-eat-dog battle, and it was.”

Texas State entered the second half ahead of Old Dominion 33-22 capped off by a buzzer beating three pointer by guard Ja’Niah Henson.

The third quarter saw Texas State take their largest lead of the game at 14 points when Henson hit another three pointer to go up 38-24.

After Henson’s twopoint jumper put the Bobcats up 41-29, Old Dominion began chopping at the Bobcats’ lead.

The Monarchs went on a 11-0 run to cut down Texas State lead to 41-38.

Old Dominion held Texas State to zero field goals to end the third period, but the Bobcats free throw shooting kept the Monarchs from gaining the lead at 46-42.

The Monarchs opened up the fourth quarter on a 8-0 run as Old Dominion took their first lead of the game since the first period at 50-46.

But a quick 4-0 run by the Bobcats soon had the game tied up at 50-50.

Old Dominion responded with one of their most dominant runs of the game going on a 16-4 run to take a commanding 66-54 lead which put the game away for the win at 66-58.

Henson led the team in scoring with 14 points followed by the duo of Jaylin Foster and Morgan Hill who both scored 12 points each.

Henson noted one of the reasons the Bobcat offense struggled in the second half was the Monarchs aggressive defensive play as well as Texas State inability to execute on offense.

“They were playing great defense,” Henson said. “They didn’t do anything special. We were just not executing when we did have those open looks.”

Foster concurred with her teammate as far as Old Dominion being one of the best defensive teams in the conference along with Texas State.

“It’s the number one and number two teams in the conference in defense,” Foster said. “They really showed their defense in the second half, and we didn’t adjust.”

Despite the loss, Antoine was adamant that the Bobcats record was not indicative of what the team is.”

“[ODU] recognized the fact we were not playing around,” Antoine said. “We have the ability to be a contender, so they understood that and came out on fire. We need to understand that there are going to be adjustments and that is when we really need to kick in when the going gets tough. Not physically, but mentally understanding what we need to do and execute it.”

Antoine also added that the team is going to continue to iron out the kinks as they head deeper into conference play “Coming out of halftime, we stressed that [ODU] didn’t get what they normally wanted, which is the transition looks they normally wanted,” Antoine said. “But I also wanted to challenge our team that we are not that far away. We are a basket away at defensive points for the game. … We are going to continue to work on what has been tough for us. That is ball security in a variety of scenarios and boxing out.”

Texas State will look to be back in the win column this Saturday as the Bobcats host South Alabama in a doubleheader with the Texas State Men’s basketball team.

Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc