EDINBURG, Texas -- The Chicago State Cougars dropped a road contest, 84-38, to UT Rio Grande Valley on Thursday night inside the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
UTRGV jumped out on an aggressive lead, taking an unanswered 14-point run. At the 5:39 mark,
Alexandria Cliff (Manitowoc, Wis./Roncalli) would stop the surge off a give-and-go pass from
Tyeshia Bowers (Flint, Mich./Southwestern), which she converted into the made layup. Cliff banked in another layup to end the first quarter and bring the Cougars within 17 of UT Rio Grande Valley to close out the frame.
CSU got as close as 15 points to UTRGV on three separate occasions, including at 29-14 early in the second quarter, thanks to back-to-back baskets from the charity stripe for Bowers. Despite closing in, UTRGV responded with six-straight points to go up 35-14.
Cliff led the night for the Cougars, tallying 11 points off 4-of-6 shooting from the field while Bowers scored seven and went 3-of-4 from the free throw line. Ines Mata Boix (Madrid, Spain/) and Taylor Robinson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) each reached six points on the night, while Mata Boix had the team-high seven rebounds.
CSU will return to the floor this afternoon at 1 p.m. to take on New Mexico State in their second to last game of the regular season.
