Oh, So Close for Women's Basketball Against Angelo State

SAN ANTONIO – Games don't get any closer than Thursday evening in Bill Greehey Arena as the St. Mary's Women's Basketball team ended up one point short on the scoreboard, 56-55 to Angelo State, which is receiving votes in the WBCA poll.
 
The two teams were tied six times and there were 16 lead changes during the 40 minutes. The clubs were also separated by only one rebound as the Rambelles (15-3, 10-2) edged the Rattlers (6-11, 2-9), 38-to-37.
 
Junior Jaedyn Dunn (Houston) came off the bench to lead the Rattlers with a career-high 14 points, while senior Natalia Ryng (Gdynia, Poland) added a season-best 12 and freshman Gabby Elliott (San Antonio) chipped in 10 – hitting double figures for the eighth-straight game.
 
Both junior Teanna Huggins (San Antonio) and senior Tonia Bilic (Zagreb, Croatia) tied for the team lead with six rebounds and Bilic collected a season-high five assists – tying her career-high – and a career-best four steals.
 
Angelo State was led by Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant with 20 points, while Sawyer Lloyd had eight rebounds, five assists and six steals.
 
Six of the team's 11 points in the first quarter were at the free throw line as the Rattlers held an 11-10 lead.
 
ASU took its first lead at 4:08 on a pullup three-pointer, 19-18 and led by the same margin at halftime, 23-22 after the teams traded points. Ryng led the team with six points and two steals, while Huggins had three rebounds.
 
The teams each scored 33 points in the second half with StMU outscoring ASU 17-to-16 in the third and the opposite in the fourth. The Rattlers had a chance late as Angelo State missed all four free throws in the final seven seconds, but were unable to get a shot off as the buzzer sounded.
 
St. Mary's hosts UT Permian Basin on Saturday for the last home game in the month of January. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. The Falcons lost 61-55 at St. Edward's on Thursday evening.