SAN MARCOS, Texas – Taeler Deer and Toshua Leavitt combined for 55 points to lead Texas State to an 86-52 victory over ULM Thursday (Jan. 18) in Strahan Coliseum. Deer and Leavitt shot a combined 11-of-19 from 3-point range.
 
There were four lead changes and one tie in the first quarter. ULM went on a 6-0 run and took its first lead at 7-6 on Tan Walker's jumper from the left elbow with 5:12 left. Two free throws by Diamond Brooks gave the Warhawks a 9-8 advantage with 3:30 remaining. Deer scored the game's next 12 points, including a four-point play, as Texas State moved out to a 20-9 lead. Brooke Holle buried a 3-pointer from the right wing with 50 seconds to play in the opening period to give the Bobcats a 23-11 lead.
 
A 3-pointer by Ti'Aria Pitts extended Texas State's lead to 13 at 28-15 with 7:34 remaining in the second quarter. A 3-pointer by Gabriella Cortez from the right wing sparked an 8-2 spurt as ULM pulled to within four at 30-26 on Walker's 3-pointer from the top of the circle with 5:19 left in the first half. The Warhawks cut their deficit to four on three more occasions in the second period at 32-28, 34-30 and 36-32. Deer scored the last seven points of the second quarter to send the Bobcats to the locker room with an 11-point lead at 43-32. She hit 9-of-12 first-half field-goal attempts, including 4-of-6 3-pointers, for 25 points.
 
Texas State (12-6, 5-2 Sun Belt) shot 55 percent (16-of-29) from the field in the first half, including 47 percent (8-of-17) from behind the 3-point arc. ULM (4-13, 1-5) also shot the ball well in the opening 20 minutes, hitting 44 percent (12-of-27) from the floor, including 3-of-6 3-pointers (50 percent).
 
The Bobcats broke the game open in the third quarter, outscoring ULM, 27-11. Leavitt netted 11 of her 19 points in the third period.
 
"It was frustrating to get down by double digits in the first quarter, but we battled back to cut the lead back to four in the second quarter," ULM head basketball coach Jeff Dow. "We stayed within striking distance, but Texas State closed out the second quarter with a 7-0 run to build an 11-point halftime lead.
 
"Offensively, we had great ball movement in the first half, but in the third quarter, we had breakdowns on both ends of the floor. We challenged the players during the first timeout in the third quarter, but clearly, they didn't respond. The competitiveness wasn't what it has been."
 
Deer made 13-of-20 field-goal attempts, including 6-of-9 3-pointers, and finished with a game-high 36 points. She also recorded seven assists and three steals in 29 minutes.
 
Texas State converted ULM's 22 turnovers into 33 points.
 
Walker led the Warhawks with a season-high 15 points, hitting 6-of-9 shots from the floor. Arsula Clark connected on 5-of-10 shots from the field and totaled 13 points.
 
"Tan Walker was efficient shooting the ball and finished with 15 points," Dow said. "Arsula Clark played hard; had 13 points, five rebounds and two steals in 24 minutes. Unfortunately, we didn't get much more offensively.
 
"We gave some kids playing time late in the fourth quarter and took the opportunity to rest some of our big-minute people for Saturday."
 
ULM wraps up its Sun Belt road swing at UT Arlington on Saturday, Jan. 20, with tipoff set for 2 p.m. on ESPN3.