Texas State women’s basketball (5-5) failed to win its final non-conference home game after losing its third straight game to Dartmouth (1-10) 62-39 Thursday afternoon.
The Bobcats struggled all afternoon on both offense and defense. Texas State shot 14-57 (24.6%) from the field, only scored 39 points, both season-lows, and turned the ball over a season-high of 21 times.
“I’m obviously disappointed,” Head Coach Zenarae Antoine said. “We tried some different things there at the end to get the team going, but it never really got them going. What surprised me was the amount of times we turned the ball over. We never turn the ball over like that. [Dartmouth] really capitalized off of the turnovers and second-chance opportunities, so I tip my hat off to them for that.”
The Big Green entered the game with zero wins and did most of its damage from three-point territory, finishing the game with 10 total three-pointers with eight of them coming in the first half. The Bobcats’ 2-3 zone didn’t seem to bother Dartmouth as threes continued to fall for them.
After both teams traded layups to start the game, freshman guard Victoria Paige hit a three-pointer that ignited a 9-2 run for Dartmouth. Sophomore guard Presley Bennett answered with her own three-pointer to cut the deficit to four. This was the closest the Bobcats managed to get as the Big Green went on to stretch its lead to 32-14 with 04:55 left in the first half.
Dartmouth came into the game shooting 24.9% from behind the arc and shot 10-30 (33.3%) from the three-point range, earning five threes in the second quarter.
The Bobcats returned with back-to-back buckets of their own which was followed by a three-pointer from both teams to close out the half.
Graduate guard/forward Gabby Standifer started off the third quarter with a hot hand, scoring eight of the first Bobcat buckets including back-to-back three-pointers to cut the deficit to 11 which forced a Dartmouth timeout. The Big Green went on to a 10-0 run that was ended by a pair of free throws by senior guard Kennedy Taylor. Senior guard Katie Douglas closed the quarter with a buzzer beating three-pointer to balloon Dartmouth’s lead back up to 22.
Both teams struggled to open up the fourth quarter. The first bucket came at the 06:43 mark from a layup by sophomore forward Rosie Jennings. Dartmouth went on to outscore the Bobcats 9-8 during the final quarter.
Standifer (8 PTS, 3-8 FGS, 2-5 3PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL) led the ‘Cats in scoring while Taylor (2 PTS, 8 AST, 6 REB, 2 STL) led in rebounds and assists. Senior center Jaeda Reed, junior forward Lauryn Thompson and Bennett also contributed with six points apiece.
Douglas (11 PTS, 4-9 FGS, 3-7 3PTS, 1 AST) led all scorers.
Next up, the Bobcats face Loyola Marymount at 4 p.m. on Dec. 18 at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles.