Trojans Can't Come Back Twice in Loss at Texas State

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Little Rock women's basketball team made one comeback in the first half, but it wasn't able to muster another one in the second half.
 
Despite coming from behind to take a lead late in the first half, Little Rock (5-11, 3-4 Sun Belt Conference) again fell behind Texas State (9-7, 4-2) in the second half and could not recover in a 67-57 loss at Strahan Coliseum on Thursday night.
 
Kaitlyn Pratt topped the Trojans with 16 points and eight rebounds, and she was the only Little Rock player in double-figure scoring. Kaitlin Walla also had 16 for the Bobcats.
 
Little Rock took a lead of 31-30 right before halftime after trailing by as many as 10 points in the period. After fighting to regain the lead for most of the first 20 minutes, an Alexius Dawn 3-pointer with five seconds remaining in the half got Little Rock that lead.
 
But the team surrendered a half-court buzzer beater by the Bobcats' Ayriel Anderson that put Texas State ahead 33-30 at the break.
 
Little Rock forced a tie at 33-33 and 36-36 early in the third quarter, but Texas State regained the lead for good after that. The Trojans briefly hung within 3 points, but the Bobcats were ahead by 6 at the end of the third quarter.
 
Little Rock's poor shooting on the night caught up to it in the fourth, and the Bobcats were able to go ahead by as many as 13 before earning their 10-point win.
 
The Trojans shot 10 of 31 from the field in the second half but were just 8 of 29 in the half before making their last two shots from the field when the contest was already decided.
 
Monique Townson and Shanity James had 9 points apiece for Little Rock, and Townson tied a career high with six rebounds. Freshmen Deja McKinney and Ronjanae DeGray earned their first career starts, and McKinney set a new career high with 7 points and 22 minutes played.
 
Little Rock got more than half its points off the bench as Pratt and James did not start. Junior Autummn Williams also came off the bench late, scoring the first 4 points of her Trojan career. Monique Townson topped the Trojans with three assists, and Keanna Keys had the team's only block.
 
For the third consecutive game, the Trojans outrebounded their opponent by more than 10. Little Rock finished with 38 rebounds – split evenly at 19-19 between offense and defense – while Texas State had just 26 boards.
 
The Trojans and Bobcats exchanged baskets early in the game, with Towson and Ronjanae DeGray hitting two shots apiece for Little Rock. But with Little Rock ahead 8-6, Texas State went on a 10-0 run that would last for nearly five minutes as the Trojans went on a field goal drought. McKinney finally broke that stretch with two free throws to make it 16-10 in favor of the home team.
 
Still, the Trojans' field goal drought continued as the team would go six full minutes between field goals, missing seven straight shots in that span. That helped the Bobcats hold a 21-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
But Little Rock worked its way all the way back in the second quarter, shooting 7 of 9 from the field while holding the Bobcats to just four made field goals. An Alexius Dawn 3-pointer with five seconds remaining gave the Trojans a 31-30 lead – its first since 8-6. But Ayriel Anderson drilled a half-court buzzer beater to give Texas State a narrow 33-31 advantage at halftime.
 
The Trojans will stay in the Lone Star State until their next game when they take on the Mavericks of UT Arlington. That contest is set for Saturday at 5 p.m. at College Park Center.