Texas State Softball Head Coach Ricci Woodard knows about tough love. She is a mother, after all.

The woman entering her twelfth season at the helm of the softball program has experienced a lot in her tenure, but nothing has had as big of an impact on her as the adoption of two young boys, Joey and Alex.

“It changed my approach to life,” Woodard said. “It has made this more of a job instead of my life. We’ve won multiple conference championships in a row since I adopted them, so maybe it has helped me learn how to separate my job and my life.”

Since Woodard was named head coach in 2000, the softball team has never placed lower than third place. The Bobcats have appeared in three straight National Collegiate Athletic Association tournaments and won five Southland Conference regular-season titles.

Texas State football signed 25 recruits Wednesday, sealing the foundation for the Bobcats’ first season in the Western Athletic Conference.

With their first full year to scout and sign prospects, Head Coach Dennis Franchione and his staff stretched as far as California and Kentucky to find prospects.

According to Rivals.com ratings, Texas State earned the best recruiting class in the WAC, hauling in 11 three-star recruits, two more than the next highest total in the conference.

Franchione said the process was less hectic this time around compared to his start last season when he had less than two weeks to seek his first recruiting class.

“It’s a little less eventful than having to go to four different locations due to rolling blackouts,” he said. “And it’s also nice to have 11 to 12 months to recruit instead of 12 days.”

Despite 15 three-pointers and doubling the offensive rebounds of its opponent, Texas State fell 80-75 to rival Texas-San Antonio last Saturday.

A technical foul was called on a Bobcat player who dunked the ball during warm-ups, enabling the Roadrunners to score before the game started. Texas State then fell into an 8-0 hole to start the game.

Coach Doug Davalos knows the importance of a road team starting hot out of the gates.

“We couldn’t stop them in any of our defenses,” Davalos said. “And it was a shame, because we had a good crowd. Letting them jump out to an 8-0 lead and shoot 64.3 percent in the first half let them get comfortable.”

The deficit would only continue to balloon. The Roadrunners eventually reached a 14 point lead against the Bobcats. Texas State’s firing from long-range kept it in the game.

Seven different Bobcats recorded a three-point field goal. Travis Jones, senior guard, knocked down five of six attempts.

The Texas State men’s basketball team welcomes in two programs from the greater Houston area this weekend and next Tuesday.

The Bobcat’s current 13-game home win streak will be put to the test as the Houston Baptist Huskies and Houston Cougars grace the court in Strahan Coliseum.

The Bobcats will be looking to avenge a loss to the Huskies from last season, when they fell 88-81 in Houston.

John Bowman, senior guard, was a starter from last year’s squad that lost.

“We have to get them back,” Bowman said. “We’ve been practicing with a chip on our shoulders this whole week thinking about that game.”

The Bobcats have recently played tough games against seemingly lower competition. Eddie Rios, senior guard, said the team has to change its approach in the beginning of games.

Following a 27-7 year that saw the Texas State volleyball team capture both a regular season and conference tournament title, Coach Karen Chisum said she believes this team is something special.

Journeying back to training camp, the coaching staff did not know what to expect from a young squad returning only two starters.

“It was a matter of us finding the right players at the right positions,” Chisum said. “At the beginning of the year, everybody was playing to get some experience. We didn’t have any signature wins or bad losses, but we learned a lot.”

The Bobcats were forced to learn swiftly following a 3-0 humbling by rival Texas-San Antonio to begin conference play.

After that match, the Bobcats, led by the Southland Conference Player of the Year Amber Calhoun, went on a 15-match win streak for sole possession of the SLC title and a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

Texas State men’s basketball snapped a two-game skid with a win over Northwestern Oklahoma State Sunday night.

The Bobcats were off to a slow start after returning from the Thanksgiving holiday, but rallied in the second half for a 74-72 win, improving their early season record to 4-2.

Coach Doug Davalos said facing an opponent in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics after the holiday made for a “trap” game.

“They’re out there playing loose because they had nothing to lose,” Davalos said. “Our first couple of games we were able to shut the opponent down early, but this time they came out and gained some easy buckets for early confidence. It was a battle from then on.”

Brooks Ybarra, senior forward, and Matt Staff, junior forward, led the Bobcats with 13 points apiece. Reid Koenen, sophomore forward, notched 11 points.

The Texas State volleyball squad travels to Conway, Ark. this weekend with the hopes of capturing a final Southland Conference tournament championship before it moves to the Western Athletic Conference next year.

In order to win the championship, the team has to extend its current conference winning streak of 15 games to 18.

It was announced Wednesday that Coach Karen Chisum was named the SLC Head Coach of the Year, and Amber Calhoun, senior middle blocker, was honored as the Player of the Year.

Caleigh McCorquodale, junior setter, and Amari Deardorff, sophomore right side hitter, also gained recognition as both were named to the All-Conference First Team.

The Bobcats earned the No. 1 seed after defeating UTSA and A&M-Corpus Christi to finish the season with a 15-1 conference record, and handing the Roadrunners (14-2) their second loss.

For the second consecutive match, the Texas State men’s basketball team defeated an opponent by 41 points. The Bobcats controlled the entire game in a 96-55 victory against the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets, improving their record to 2-0 and extending their home winning streak to 12 matches.

The game followed a similar pattern as the home opener, as the home team jumped to a huge halftime lead only to struggle in the second half.

John Bowman, senior guard, attempts a goal against Howard Payne University Nov. 15 at Strahan Coliseum. The Bobcats defeated the Yellow Jackets 96-55 making Texas State’s current record 2-0.

Coach Doug Davalos said despite the second half lapse, his team is headed in the right direction.

A rematch between the Southland Conference powerhouse teams Texas State and UTSA resulted in a defining 3-1 victory for the visiting Bobcats.

The first conference match of the season proved disastrous for Texas State, as the team was swept by UTSA in Strahan Coliseum.

However, the Bobcats were able to return the favor in San Antonio, and swept A&M-Corpus Christi over the weekend to capture the regular-season conference title.

Coach Karen Chisum said despite the Convocation Center record 1,612 in attendance for the Roadrunners, that court has always been a special place.

“The pressure was on them the whole way,” Chisum said. “I have convinced the girls that this is our home away from home. I have won several conference championships over here. I love playing on this floor. I wish our conference tournament were here. We were comfortable.”

The Texas State men’s basketball team started the season on the right note Friday in a 101-60 trouncing of Texas Lutheran University.

The home team jumped out to an early 8-0 lead and never looked back. By half-time, the Bobcats had stretched the lead to 62-24, three points shy of the highest-scoring. half in Texas State history.

Matt Staff, junior forward, attempts a basket against Texas Lutheran University Nov. 11 at Strahan Coliseum.

Coach Doug Davalos said he was pleased with the first half, but the second left much to be desired.