MONROE, La. - The ULM women's basketball team erased an 11-point deficit to take a brief fourth quarter lead, but Texas State responded and picked up the 59-53 win over the Warhawks Thursday night at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

"We had a lot of missed opportunities in the first half," ULM head coach Brooks Donald Williams said. "I thought we gathered ourselves and did some good things on both ends of the floor. It's about coming out of half and regrouping. I thought this group did that. I'm proud of their efforts tonight."

The Warhawks struggled with turnovers, especially in the first quarter. ULM committed seven of its 16 turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game. After Texas State took a 5-0 lead on a 3-pointer by Brooke Holle, ULM answered with back-to-back treys from Amber Thompson and Gara Beth Self to take a 6-5 lead with 7:13 left in the quarter. Texas State answered with six straight points, capped on a layup by Chelsea Johnson off an offensive rebound, to gain an 11-6 lead. The Bobcats extended the lead to as much as eight in the first quarter, but a pair of free throws by Self brought the Warhawks within six after a quarter at 19-13.

In the second quarter, the Bobcats expanded the lead to 10 three times early in the quarter, the last at 27-17 on a pair of free throws by Jayla Johnson with 6:34 to go before halftime. ULM closed as close as four points before halftime on a traditional three-point play by Self with 27 seconds to go before the break, but Texas State picked up a free throw by Jaeda Reed to lead 30-25 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Texas State scored the first six points to take a 36-25 lead on a jumper by Holle. ULM answered with five straight points, as Self hit a jumper in the lane and then found Whitney Goins for a transition 3-pointer to cut the gap to 36-30 with 5:53 left in the quarter. Texas State kept the lead at two possessions or more, hovering between four and eight points for much of the quarter, until taking a nine-point lead on a three-point play by Da'Nasia Hood with 39 seconds left in the frame. ULM's Maddi Gatte knocked down a jumper to cut the deficit to seven after three quarters at 46-39.

In the final quarter, ULM made its move. Goins knocked down another trey, and after a jumper by Holle for Texas State, Maddi Gatte hit a 3-pointer from the corner to bring the Warhawks within three at 48-45 with 8:03 to play. ULM trailed by four midway through the quarter when Amber Thompson drilled a 3-pointer to get within a point at 50-49 with 5:17 left. After a Texas State turnover, Goins hit a pair of free throws to hand ULM a 51-50 lead, their first since leading 6-5 in the first quarter, with 4:54 to play.

Both teams went scoreless for two minutes before Texas State answered on a layup by Johnson to regain the 52-51 edge. Holle completed a three-point play to push the lead to 55-51 with exactly 2:00 remaining. After picked up a defensive stop, Thompson hit her first of two free throws, but missed the second. Thompson got her own rebound, and worked the ball inside the Jamie Means, who was fouled and made one of two free throws to bring the Warhawks within two at 55-53 with 40 seconds remaining.

The Warhawks picked up a defensive stop with nine seconds left and used a timeout to set up a chance at the game-tying basket. However, an official determined the Warhawks took too much time returning to the floor out of the timeout and set the basketball down on the floor and began a five-second count. The Warhawks rushed to throw the ball in, resulting in a turnover. A foul to stop the clock, and a subsequent technical foul on Williams, allowed the Bobcats four free throws as they pulled away for the final 59-53 margin.

"It was an interesting sequence of events at the end," Williams said. "I've not experienced that in my career. We'll learn from it. I certainly need to handle the end of the game situation better. I hate that for our group, because they fought really hard to get back in it. I'm really proud of our efforts tonight, and disappointed we couldn't get the win."

Self led ULM with 18 points while adding six rebounds and four assists. She did most of her damage at the free throw line, hitting 9-of-12 charities on the night.

"GB really struggled in the first half, and I thought she came back out of half and really started attacking and taking advantage of the dribble drive," Williams said. "She got to the rim at will and started finding her teammates. We need her to play with the composure and attack that she did in the second half."

Goins had her third consecutive double-figure game with 10 points. Thompson and Diamond Brooks had eight rebounds apiece.

The Bobcats, who clinched the final spot in next week's Sun Belt Conference Tournament with the win, were led by Hood's 15 points. Holle added 14, while scoring her 1,000th career point, and Chelsea Johnson picked up 13 points off the bench.

ULM closes the 2019-20 season on Saturday afternoon when they host UT Arlington at noon at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. The Warhawks will honor three seniors, Thompson, Destini Lunsford and Lauren Fitch, prior to tip-off. For tickets, call 318-342-HAWK or visit ULMWarhawks.com. Links to live video, audio and stats are available online at ULMWarhawks.com.