SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State women's basketball team was outscored by 11 points in the second half en route to a 69-59 Lone Star Conference loss to the Midwestern State Mustangs on Saturday at Stephens Arena in the Junell Center.

The Belles (6-6, 3-3 LSC) fell for the first time since Jan. 23, 1997 at home to the Mustangs (9-3, 4-2 LSC) and lost in back-to-back games for only the second time this season.  ASU led 25-24 at halftime after leading by as many as six points in the first half. Lauren Holt, who finished with a team-leading 16 points, had nine points in the first half to help the Belles grab the early advantage. MSU closed the first half on a 9-5 run to pull to within one.

“I thought that we had some unnecessary fouls and that was frustrating,” ASU head coach Sally Walling Brooks said. “You can't turn the ball over and shoot badly. We didn't take advantage of some opportunities in the first half.”

With the game tied at 33 with 13:49 to play, Midwestern State went on a 5-1 run that was answered by the Belles. Morgan Youngblood took the score to 38-37 in MSU's favor with a basket with 11:35 to play, but the Mustangs would go on a 9-0 run that would give them breathing room throughout the rest of the half and the win. ASU would never get closer than nine points the rest of the half.

Holt was the lone Belle in double-figures on the night. Youngblood finished the game with nine rebounds and eight points, while Haylee Oliver had nine points with two of the Belles' 3-pointers. Jennifer Lapp also scored nine points and added four rebounds, while Amanda Weaver had four rebounds with Faith Hunt scoring six points.

The Belles struggled by shooting 4 of 15 (27 percent) on 3-pointers, but made 15 of 20 (75 percent) from the free-throw line. ASU is now shooting 32 percent on 3-pointers and 64 percent from the line this season.

Kirsti Degelia led the Mustangs with 19 points, including making 8 of 10 shots from the free-throw line. Dianna Jones added 15 points and Andrea Carter scored 10. The Mustangs shot 42.3 percent from the floor despite also struggling on 3-pointers by making only 2 of their 9 attempts (22.2 percent).

The Belles return to action at 2 p.m. next Saturday against Texas Woman's at the Junell Center.