STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The Angelo State women's basketball team dropped its season opener to St. Mary's 74-60 at the Tarleton State Invitational on Friday afternoon.

Angelo State (0-1) was led by Jasmine Caston's 23 points including 15 in the second half. Jackie Patterson was the only other Belle in double figures with 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting. St. Mary's (1-0) shot 50.8-percent from the floor and hits 9-of-16 from behind the arc including 6-of-10 in the first half alone. The Belles made 42.0-percent from the floor and only 28.6-percent from behind the arc. ASU was able to get to the free throw line 23 times making 16 compared to just five makes on 10 attempts for St. Mary's.

"We knew today was going to be a battle," ASU head coach Cayla Petree said. "St. Mary's is a very deep and experienced baksetball team and it showed today. They jumped on us early and we couldn't recover. We learned a lot about our team today. I was proud of the fight and heart we showed in the second half with two freshmen and a sophomore playing significant minutes. We are not where we want but I am excited about the future with these young kids."

The Rattlers jumped out to a 16-4 lead through the first seven minutes of the game including a 10-2 run to open the game. Kiara Ethridge, who led St. Mary's in scoring and rebounding with 22 points and 11 rebounds, scored eight of the first 16 points.
Kietta Saunders stopped the run with a layup at the 10:42 mark. After free throws by Jasmine Patterson, the Belles would outscore St. Mary's 8-6 to bring the deficit to 34-21 with two minutes to go. Patterson led the Belles in the first half with eight points.

The Rattlers would hit their sixth 3-pointer of the half to close out the first half ahead 39-22.

The Belles had a good start to the second half. Lexi Murphy scored a layup and was fouled. The junior transfer put the free throw in and sparked a 14-5 run to open the second half. Another St. Mary's 3-pointer made it 44-36 at the 13:52 mark of the second half. The Rattlers extended their lead to 62-45 with an 18-9 run.

Angelo State made one last effort with Diamalises River scoring four points and Caston adding seven with a jumper and a three to cut the lead to 65-56 with 5:22 left to play. Rivera's eight points in the game all came in the second half. Nine points was the closest the Belles would get as St. Mary's outscored ASU 9-4 over the last 5:22 of the game.

The Belles will return to action at the Tarleton State Invitational tomorrow at 12 p.m. against Southern Arkansas.