SAN MARCOS, Texas – Gara Beth Self scored a career-high 20 points, including a pair of go-ahead 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, as the ULM women's basketball team picked up its first Sun Belt Conference win of the season, defeating Texas State 58-55 Thursday night at Strahan Arena.
"I thought it was huge, number one, to get a road win, and number two, just for our morale and confidence and the change of mentality," ULM head coach Brooks Donald Williams said. "It was really big for this program."
Self was efficient from the floor, shooting 6-of-9 overall from the field, 4-of-5 from 3-point range and 4-of-4 from the free throw line, while also adding five assists to three turnovers. Her five assists and four rebounds also matched career highs.
"She played like a veteran tonight," Williams said. "She played really big for us and hit some shots in big moments. I think more than anything, we watched her leadership evolve in floor huddles and timeout huddles. She was very, very vocal. It's fun to watch this become her team as a point guard instead of a coaching staff team. We'll continue to be better as that progresses. She was really good tonight."
In a back-and-forth game, ULM (3-13 overall, 1-4 Sun Belt) started strong. The Warhawks scored the first seven points of the evening, and eventually led 13-4 on a jumper by Amber Thompson with 2:15 left in the first quarter. Texas State (7-9 overall, 0-5 Sun Belt) started to rally there, scoring five of the final seven points of the quarter to trail 15-9 after the quarter.
The Bobcats poured it on the in the second quarter, scoring 17 of the first 19 points, including a 12-0 run capped on a layup by Jaeda Reed, to lead 26-17 with 3:02 left in the first half. With ULM struggling, Self picked up the Warhawks. First, Self knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key. On the following possession, Thompson found Self open for another trey, this time from the right wing, as ULM closed within three at 26-23. Texas State led 28-24 at halftime.
The third quarter was low-scoring, but ULM eventually took advantage by holding Texas State to five points in the quarter. The Warhawks tied the game and took the lead on free throws by Thompson to go up 34-33 with 1:29 left in the quarter. Sheniqua Coatney added layup and Whitney Goins knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to extend the ULM lead to six after three quarters at 39-33.
In the fourth quarter, Texas State started hot, buoyed by Da'Nasia Hood. Hood knocked down a pair of 3-pointers around a jumper from Kennedy Taylor, as Texas State tied the game at 41. The Bobcats extended the lead to five at 46-41 on another trey by Hood with 6:14 left. ULM fought back again, eventually taking the 51-50 lead on a 3-pointer by Self with 2:53 to go. After Texas State went back up by two, at 55-53, Self answered again, canning a trey from the left wing to take a 56-55 lead with 1:05 left. The Warhawk defense buckled down in the final minute, getting three stops to close the game. Coatney pulled in a rebound with 5.5 seconds left and was fouled. The sophomore connected on both free throws to push the lead to 58-55. Texas State did not attempt a 3-point shot on its final possession as ULM held on for the 58-55 win.
In addition to Self's 20 points, Thompson tallied 17 points and Diamond Brooks had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Williams said Thompson continues to improve her consistency.
"With Amber, it's been about consistency, and she was consistent again tonight," Williams said. "We're really proud of her poise tonight. I thought she gave the group a lot of poise down the stretch. She battled cramps again tonight and fought through that. I thought her mentality was so tough tonight. There's been a lot of growth from her, and that's trickling on down to the rest of the team."
Coatney had six points and six rebounds, but hit the two critical free throws late after playing over 23 minutes. Williams said Coatney stepped up in big moments.
"She did a lot of things that don't show up on the stat sheet," Williams said. "Defensively, she helped cover up some big things for us. I thought she made some big basketball-savy plays on both ends and obviously stepped up to the line and sealed two big free throws. She stepped up when her team needed her the most."
Williams said the win is a validation of what the team has been working on.
"We're going to celebrate it," Williams said. "The next step is to go back to work and start to teach that all the little things they have done so well and have started to buy in to, they pay off, and they'll continue to pay off if they continue to do them. It's not a short term deal. It's a long term process. If they'll continue the process, they'll continue to reap some benefits from it."
Hood had 20 points to lead Texas State, while Johnson tallied 10.
ULM wraps up its Texas road trip at 2 p.m. Saturday at UT Arlington. Links to live video, audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
