Lady Mustangs show toughness at tourney

But that wasn’t what impressed her the most about her squad.

“They were able to bounce back from a loss and compete after playing late at night and early the next morning,” she said. “It was a good effort all the way around. We were able to start with good competition. It’s just a good kickoff.”

The Lady Mustangs crushed San Antonio Taft, 59-22, and lost to Arlington Bowie, 62-42. 

Marble Falls was stagnant offensively at first but relied on its defense to set the tone.

“Defensively, we did a good job slowing them down and playing and getting them to turn the ball over,” Gamble said. “We didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball.”

She was pleased with the free-throw percentage as well and the execution of the half-court offenses.

Katie Mosher led the Lady Mustangs with 13 points followed by Katy Cooke with 11, Diana Fonseca and Amanda Gray each had eight points, Lindsay Ansley added seven, Erica DelaHoya had six, Shannon Bendes finished with four and Kimi Hicks rounded out the scoring with two.

Ansley had eight rebounds, while Gray had six and DelaHoya finished with five.

Fonseca recorded five assists and six steals.

Gamble said her squad did not play well against Bowie.

“We came out real flat in the first half,” she said. “We were behind early and we struggled throughout the game. We just didn’t perform.”

Marble Falls had 15 turnovers in the first half. Despite that, Bowie led, 28-24.

But Bowie scored 21 points in the third period to put the game out of reach.

“It got real physical,” Gamble said. “We were in foul trouble. We had to depend on other people to to bring the ball up. It’s not the same as having your point guard on the floor.” 

Marble Falls also missed 13 free throws.

“That makes a big difference,” the coach said. “We shot probably our worst game from the free-throw line.”

Marble Falls tried to come back in the final period. Still, Bowie outscored them, 13-9.

Though the Lady Mustangs played their second game of the day Nov. 14, Gamble said they had several hours to recoup after beating Pflugerville Connally, 50-43, earlier in the day.

“We’re not going to make excuses,” she said. “We just didn’t come to play.”

Cooke led Marble Falls with 10 points, followed by Ansley, Fonseca and Mosher with six each, Gray added five, DelaHoya scored four, Shannon Bendes had three and Hicks finished with two.

Ansley had seven rebounds.

Bowie, a member of Class 5A, won the state title in the last two years and was at the state tournament twice in the last five.

Gamble said she still wants to have multiple players in double figures.

“That’s going to be more important to our success,” she said. 

The Lady Mustangs will have their home opener today against Round Rock McNeil 7 p.m. at Max Copeland Gym, 2101 Mustang Drive. 

“We try not to back down from competition,” Gamble said. “That puts my kids in a better situation down the road. We look forward to a hard-fought matchup against a very athletic team.”