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Bobcats Stretch Win Streak to Four
Jan. 19, 2008 THIBODAUX, La. - Joyce Ekworomadu reached the 20 point mark for the second straight game, netting 23, and the Bobcats tied their season high with 10 three pointers as Texas State (10-7, 4-0 SLC) won its fourth straight with an 80-66 win over Nicholls State (3-12, 1-3 SLC) on Saturday. With the win Texas State is off to its best start in conference play since the 2004-05 season when the `Cats won their first seven SLC games. A 10-2 Bobcat run opened the game's first two minutes, capped by an Ekworomadu three. The Lady Colonels fought back to pull within three at 18-15 when Katherine Plummer hit a jumper at the 13:34 mark, but Texas State answered with a 14-3 run over the next six minutes to extend the lead back up to 32-18. The cushion would stay in double digits for the remainder of the half, and Ekworomadu's jumper 34 seconds before the break gave the Bobcats a 46-31 halftime advantage. Plummer tried to bring Nicholls State back in the second half by scoring six straight points for the Lady Colonels to trim the Bobcats' lead to 13 with 16:05 left in the game before Texas State's Kim Cessna put an end to the rally. Cessna made a lay-up and followed it with a three on the next trip down the court. The Bobcats kept up their hot shooting from the outside, answering each Lady Colonel basket with a three pointer, the last of which put Texas State up 71-52 with 10:28 remaining. Ekworomadu hit another jumper at the 9:20 mark to give Texas State a 73-54 lead, but the Bobcats would make only one field goal for the rest of the game on Tamarra Evans-Sluga's jumper seven minutes later. Nicholls State couldn't translate its defensive success on the offensive end, getting no closer than 14 with 2:02 left in the game. Neither team would score after that, giving the `Cats the 80-66 win.
Evans-Sluga and Aimee Hilburn each joined Ekworomadu in double figures with 13 apiece, and Evans-Sluga and Ekworomadu combined for seven of the Bobcats' 10 three pointers for the game. Plummer and Maggie Green led the way for Nicholls State, dropping 20 points each while Tiffany Jones added 10 in the losing effort as the Texas State defense held the Lady Colonels to just 36 percent shooting. The Bobcats will conclude their three-game road trip on Thursday in Corpus Christi against the Islanders. |
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