SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State women's basketball team dropped its first Lone Star Conference game of the season Thursday night, losing 73-64 to Midwestern State in the Stephens Arena at the Junell Center.

The Belles (4-2, 2-1 LSC) were led by sophomore De'Anira Moore who finished the game with a career-high 21 points and pulled down 12 rebounds as well for her fourth double-double of the season. She did almost half of her work from the free throw line, hitting 9 of 15 from the charity stripe.

"Midwestern scored the ball really well tonight with four different players in double figures, and we didn't really play defense up to our standards," Angelo State head women's basketball coach Renae Shippy said. "There's room to improve for sure, so we'll keep working and get ready to face a good Cameron team on Saturday."

Daniels also finished in double figures on the night with 14 points, as did Madi Greenwood, who scored 13 in the game. The Belles grabbed 25 offensive rebounds as a team and scored 15 second chance points in the game.

MSU jumped out to an early lead in the first minute, scoring the game's first four points. ASU got on the board almost a minute into the contest on a pair of free throws from Madi Greenwood and cut Mustang lead to 7-5 and eventually tied it up with 5:46 left to play in the opening quarter.

A jumper from Dezirae Hampton 10 seconds later put the Belles on top for the first time in the game, but the lead was short-lived as the Mustangs hit a three-pointer on the following play to jump back out in front. The two teams continued to trade buckets throughout the period and Midwestern State went into the first break up 24-20.

Hampton ended the game with just four points, but pulled down a career-high nine rebounds.

The Belles went on a scoring drought to start the second quarter, allowing the Mustangs to build the first large lead for either team on the night. With 6:46 left to play in the half, MSU had built a 12-point lead, their largest of the half

Kynese Davis sparked the Belles, however, hitting a layup that set off a 6-0 ASU run to bring them back within striking distance. Angelo State was unable to close the gap completely before the half ended ad went into the break down nine points.

Midwestern State pushed its lead back to double-digits early in the second half, going up by 10 with 7:20 left in the third quarter, but ASU responded again. Davis sparked another run with a deep three-pointer, and the Belles got back within striking distance. A short run by the Mustangs to end the quarter but them up eight to end the quarter.

The MSU run continued into the start of the fourth quarter as the Mustangs scored another six straight points to go up by 14 and force an ASU timeout. The Belles scored six straight points out of the huddle to cut the lead back to single digits.

The comeback effort was not enough, however, as the Mustangs hit free throws in the final minutes and handed ASU their first conference loss of the season.

Angelo State will play at home once more this weekend, taking on Cameron at 2 p.m. on Saturday in the Stephens Arena at the Junell Center. The game has been designated faculty appreciation as well as Greek night. All Angelo State faculty and staff and their immediate families will be admitted into the game for free and the fraternities and sororities on campus will be recognized at halftime of the game.