The Republic of Latvia, a Baltic state north of Lithuania in Europe that is mostly recognized for its sporting traditions in basketball and ice hockey, is not known for producing competitive golfers.
Krista Puisite, a native Latvian, challenges such tradition.

Puisite, finance senior, has a decorated collegiate career as a Bobcat, both athletically and academically.  She has been named WAC Golfer of the Week on three occasions this season. Last season, Puisite was the recipient of the 2012 Southland Conference Student-Athlete of the Year, averaging a 74.39 stroke average, which amounted for the best in school history, while also maintaining a 3.88 GPA.

Within the Jowers Center on the Texas State Campus resides a mostly unknown sporting organization with a longstanding and distinguished history.

The Texas State Fencing Club, established in 1975, is the longest active club organization at Texas State. For the first time in its history, the club has been invited to compete in the United States Association of Collegiate Fencing Clubs Championships at Michigan State University April 6 and 7. The tournament has open competitions for schools around the country to participate, but receiving an invitation is a special honor. 

“The club has a good tradition,” said Wyatt Constantine, international studies senior and fencer. “We have a reputation of fielding good fencers. I’m not scared at all. At the very least, they’re going to remember Texas State. We’re going to be facing a lot of schools where fencing is really strong. It’s going to be awesome.”

Bobcat track and field will try to better second and third place finishes from the Texas State Elite Meet this Thursday when the team hosts the Bobcat Invitational.

The women’s team earned the first WAC Championship title for Texas State in February but the team, especially the men’s side, is plenty motivated to bring more titles home.

“For the women, winning a championship, they got the taste of victory,” said Coach Dana Boone. “Once you taste it, you always want it. For the men to come up short, and see the women win, that’s their motivation. They want to come outdoors to see if they can get a taste of that victory as well.”

During last week’s Texas State Elite meet, the women’s team finished an overall second, with a 1-point differential behind the University of Texas-San Antonio, 138.50 points. The men’s team finished third with 96.50 points, behind the University of California-Los Angeles and the University of Texas-Austin.   

She endured 74 losses over four seasons, but by the end of her Texas State career, senior guard Diamond Ford stood on top.

Ford, with 1,920 career points, moved into second place all-time at Texas State and broke the single-season scoring record by 11 points, with 644 points during the 2012-2013 season.

“I’m proud of myself to make that (scoring record) accomplishment,” Ford said. “I just wanted to come out hard for my team and try to get past the first round because I know this will be my last go-around. It’s been a great journey since I came to Texas State.”

Ford led the team in scoring against Denver, putting up 27 points, collecting her 20th 20-point game on the season. Ford led the WAC in scoring, averaging 21.5 points per game, placing her 10th nationally.

The women’s basketball season came to a close last Tuesday after a first round elimination by the University of Denver Pioneers at the WAC tournament, 73-63.

The Bobcat women’s basketball team will look to beat Utah State University and San Jose State University this weekend as senior guard Diamond Ford sets her sights on breaking the school’s season-scoring record.

Ford is 57 points away from breaking the school’s season-scoring record. She totaled 58 points in the previous matchups against the Aggies and Spartans, with a season-high 40 against San Jose State. Carlotta Fisbeck holds the record scoring 633 points, a title that has been intact for 43 years. 

Ford is the 13th player at Texas State to collect more than 1,000 career points. The guard finished with 572 points last season, which accounted for fourth best in school history. Ford ranks 10th in the nation in points per game, averaging 21.4 points this season and has 577 points this year.

Texas State women’s basketball lost Thursday against Seattle University, the team’s fourth overtime loss this season decided under a 4-point difference.

The Bobcats led by 14 points at the start of the second half, holding Seattle to 30.3 percent shooting from the floor in the first half of play, 10-33. The Redhawks then went on a 34-19 scoring surge, tying the game at 59 with 5:41 remaining. Seattle led by 3 with 50 seconds on the clock, but senior Diamond Ford, who had 22 points, hit a 3 pointer with 30 left, sending the game into overtime, 66 all.

However, Texas State could not convert down two in the last seconds of overtime. Ford missed a 3-pointer to win the game and a second-chance jumper for the tie. The final score was 73-71.

Texas State women’s basketball will attempt to do what it can to turn the season around in its final two road games before the WAC Tournament.

The Bobcats travel to Seattle University Thursday night and to the University of Idaho for a Saturday afternoon game.

“We just got to finish the season off strong,” said guard Diamond Ford. “And the things we know we’re having problems with, we have to fix them. We need to guard the paint better and become more consistent with our free throws. We’ve worked on free throws a lot during practice this week, and after the road trip, we should be in a better flow.”

Haley Lemons

OE: What would you consider a perfect date?

HL: A perfect date would be us going to see my favorite or any band. I would like going to see a show and then going to dinner or staying out all night and being crazy.

OE: What’s the best date you’ve ever been on?

HL: Honestly, the best date I’ve ever been on was with my fiance. We just had a little picnic at our house and watched an old movie outside on a projector. I just think the best date just depends on being with the best person.

OE: What is the most important quality in a significant other?

HL: For me, the most important quality is if he loves God or not. His relationship with God should be the most important thing because when he is held to a higher standard than what I expect, he will be more reliable.

OE: Is going to the movies—a traditional date—a good or bad first date in your mind?

The women's basketball team will be traveling to take on Houston Baptist University, loser of seven games straight, after coming off their most efficient first half of the season in a 74-65 loss to the University of Texas-San Antonio Saturday.

Houston Baptist has won a combined nine games in three years. This will be the second time in history the two teams have met to play against each other. 

Houston Baptist is 4-20 on the season, 0-4 in conference. The Huskies’ last win came on Jan. 12 against the University of New Orleans, 60-45. They are coming off a 77-48 loss to a conference opponent, the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark.

The Huskies’ record was 1-27 overall with a 0-10 record in the Great West Conference last season. Houston Baptist ranks last this season in the Great West, a five-team conference. The team ranks last with -2.38 in turnover margin in the conference.

Junior forward Ashley Ezeh returned to play against the University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners after a five-week injury absence on Saturday, but the Bobcats came up short, 74-65.

Texas State has struggled with rebounding in previous games without Ezeh in the lineup. Ezeh ranks third in the WAC in defensive rebounds, averaging 9.6 boards per game. Ezeh came off the bench and played 24 minutes, shot 6-10 and contributed 13 points and three rebounds.

“It felt good to be back. I wanted to be back so bad,” Ezeh said. “I worked in rehab often and tried my hardest to get back on the court. I’m just going to keep practicing, working hard and get my offensive presence going, and hopefully we’ll win the upcoming games in the season.”

The Bobcats shot a season high 77.3 percent from the floor in the first half, hitting on 17 of 22 shots. However, Texas State’s shooting consistency fell to 31.6 percent in the second half with 6 of 19.