ABILENE, Texas — Fighting back from an 11-point deficit, the Sul Ross State women's basketball team played hard until the last minute on Thursday night at the Kimbrell Arena.

Unfortunately, the Lobos came up short to the McMurry War Hawks, 78-74.

>> HOW IT HAPPENED:

Sul Ross State trailed 6-1 in the opening quarter until Ariana Escalante nailed a three-pointer and then made a layup to tie the game with 6:03 on the clock.

Marley Rokas gave the Lobos an 8-6 lead with a layup before McMurry tied up the score at eight-all.

McMurry went on a 6-0 run before the Lobos used a 4-0 run where Emily Bunger scored all the points to cut the deficit to two.

The War Hawks scored the final three points to lead by five at the end of the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Sul Ross State trailed by as much as seven.

After two made free throws by Rokas and a layup from Bunger, the Lobos cut the deficit down to three with just under seven minutes to go.

Victoria Aguayo grabbed a steal that turned into a layup to put Sul Ross State behind by three with 3:29 on the clock.

McMurry then went ahead by six at the break as it scored on a layup with 12 seconds left.

Sul Ross State got to within three on two occasions in the third quarter.

The War Hawks held an 11-point lead before Morgan Peralez tallied a layup and Aguayo scored on the fast break to close out the third frame on a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to seven.

Sul Ross State was behind by nine before it put together a 7-0 run to trail by two with 6:39 to go.

Kayley Diaz was fouled on a made layup as she got three points on the play to put the Lobos behind by one point.

McMurry made two free throws to extend its lead to three before Aguayo got the Lobos to within one point with a made layup at the 4:47 mark.

The War Hawks went on a 5-0 run to lead by nine with two minutes to go.

Little by little, the Lobos began to chisel away at the deficit.

Aguayo was sent to the free throw line after getting fouled on an attempted three-pointer. She made all three free throws to put the Lobos behind by two with six seconds remaining.

>> RECORDS: Sul Ross State (3-5); McMurry (6-1)

>> WHAT THE COACH SAID:

"It's all about toughness. They didn't quit though. In order for us to beat them, we have to attack. I think they did better than us. We keep losing close games. It's very frustrating." — Head coach E.J. Lee Smith after the loss

"We have to stop their penetration. If we don't, we're going to have the same thing happen. I have good players. We have to play 40 minutes. There's no excuse." — Head coach E.J. Lee Smith on what her team has to do moving forward

>> GAME NOTES:

• Aguayo had a season-high 21 points. She also grabbed seven rebounds while she tallied a team-best five steals.
• Rokas added 15 points and a team-best eight rebounds.
• Peralez tallied 12 points and four rebounds.
• Escalante finished with eight points while Diaz finished with seven points.
• Sul Ross State shot 21 of 31 from the free throw line.
• The Lobos grabbed more rebounds than McMurry, 37-32.
• Cheyanne Bonilla had a team-best five assists along with five points.
• The Lobos scored 21 points off turnovers.

>> UP NEXT: Sul Ross State takes on Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas at 1 p.m. CST on Saturday, Dec. 9.