SAN ANGELO, Texas - The St. Edward's Women's Basketball team struggled in all areas Saturday afternoon at the Junell Center, as they lost a key non-conference matchup with Angelo State, 75-55.
St. Edward's (5-2) was the definite favorite over Angelo State (2-5), coming into today's regional matchup. However, from the opening tip, the RamBelle's would bring more tenacity to the contest.
The Hilltoppers got themselves in an early hole, failing to score for the first six minutes of the contest, and surrendering a 12-2 deficit.
St. Edward's would struggle offensively over the next eight minutes, as the score stood 28-9.
Determined to get back into the game, St. Edward's would close the last six minutes of the half on a run, cutting the RamBelle lead to nine, 24-33.
As the second half began, the Hilltoppers could not shake their offensive struggles, allowing the nine-point shortage to increase to 12 with 15 minutes left in the game.
Over the remainder of the game St. Edward's struggled to get things going, as Angelo State built a commanding 20-point lead. St. Edward's would end up falling, 75-55.
The offensive performance by the Hilltoppers marked its worst of the young season. Over the first six games, St. Edward's had scored 81 points per game, shot 42 percent from the field, and 35 percent from beyond the arc. Today, St. Edward's went 18-for-61 (29 percent) from the field, 1-for-14 (7 percent) from three-point land, and scored a season-low 55 points.
"Today was not our best or most focused effort. However, ASU played a highly motivated game today and we won't take anything away from them," head coach J.J. Riehl said of her team's performance.
"We never recovered from our slow start, the ball wasn't falling and we didn't handle the adversity well. In games like today you have to be tough enough to grind out a game and we didn't do that today! We allowed the situation to dictate our demeanor, energy, and enthusiasm," Riehl remarked.
St. Edward's will look to bounce back Saturday when they travel to Kingsville, Texas to take on Texas A&M-Kingsville. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. and live coverage will be available through the Javelina Athletic Website.
