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ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio women's basketball team (7-15, 4-7 MAC) fell 80-71 to the Texas State Bobcats (13-12, 3-9 Sun Belt) on Saturday, Feb. 10.
Overall, the Bobcats shot 43 percent from the field and 20 percent from the three-point arch. The Bobcats went 17-for-26 at the free-throw line. The Bobcats grabbed a total of 30 rebounds with 18 being defensive. Ohio's defense forced 24 turnovers and scored 22 points off them.
Individually, the Bobcats were led by freshman Laylay Fantroy (Palestine, Texas) with a career-high 24 points, six rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Jaya McClure (Louisville, Ky.) with 17 points, four assists and four steals. Junior Kennedi Watkins (Ballwin, Mo.) with eight points and three steals. Freshman Monica Williams (Indianapolis, Ind.) and senior Bengisu Alper (Istanbul, Turkey) also added four points each for Ohio.
Ohio may have lost the tip, but it fought on defense on the other end to stop Texas from scoring. Ohio got on the board first with Fantroy drawing a shooting foul, going 2-for-2 at the stripe. Williams would keep the momentum going for Ohio with a driving layup shot clock buzzer-beater assisted by Fantroy. Texas would slowly gain a lead against Ohio, sinking multiple shots from beyond the arc. Ohio would keep the score gap short by drawing shooting fouls on offense. Texas found themselves in foul trouble halfway through the quarter giving Ohio the bonus advantage from the stripe. The Ohio Bobcats would go 11-14 from the stripe in the first quarter. McClure sunk a three-point jumper and had a driving layup to keep Ohio on the scoreboard. Fantroy finished the quarter with a buzzer-beater jumper assisted by McClure. Texas led by three going into the second quarter.
Texas had possession to begin the second quarter, but after missing a shot, Fantroy snagged the rebound to assist a three-point jumper to McClure to tie the score. The Ohio Bobcats would be on an offensive streak with driving layups from Williams and Fantroy. Fantroy drew a foul to take the bonus shot from the stripe. Ohio gained its first lead since the first quarter forcing Texas to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, Ohio continued to keep Texas off the board by forcing turnovers. Freshman Bailey Tabeling (Seymour, Ind.) extended Ohio's lead with a deep three-point jumper. Both teams would keep each other off the scoreboard for almost two minutes of play. Fantroy would break the streak with a layup off an opponent turnover. Texas scored a three-point jumper buzzer-beater to end the second quarter. Ohio led 35-33 at the half.
Ohio opened the second half with possession, but quickly lost it to a turnover. Texas would gain a short lead, but a made free throw and driving layup from Fantroy put Ohio back ahead by one. Ohio and Texas traded baskets to stay within a few baskets of each other. Texas gained another lead, but Ohio would claw back into the game with a driving layup from Fantroy and a second-chance layup from Watkins. Alper added to the board with a driving layup assisted by Williams. The Texas Bobcats led 56-47 going into the final period of the game.
The fourth quarter started slow for both teams. The only points on the board within the first two minutes were two made free throws for Texas and one layup for Ohio. Texas made two back-to-back layups forcing Ohio to call a timeout with 7:24 remaining in the game. Out of the timeout, Fantroy went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line. A steal by junior Kate Dennis (Rockford, Ill.) helped assist a driving layup for Fantroy. Ohio began to close the gap with a three-point jumper by Tabeling and two driving layups from redshirt junior Madi Mace (Parkersburg, W. Va.). Going into the final media timeout of the game, Texas led by seven. Texas would continue to out-score Ohio for the remainder of the quarter. Ohio fell to Texas 80-71.
The Bobcats will remain in the Convocation Center to take on the Ball State Cardinals on Saturday, Feb. 17. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. ET and is available to stream on ESPN+.
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