Texas State women’s basketball’s (15-14, 9-7 Sun Belt) season came to an end on Friday night as it fell to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (18-6, 10-4 Sun Belt) by a score of 71-46.
The Bobcats had a miserable start to the game, going scoreless for the first eight minutes before they managed to get on the board with a three-pointer from graduate forward Gabby Standifer. However, by then Louisiana had already gone on a 12-0 run.
The Ragin’ Cajuns were clearly focused on bottling up senior forward Da’Nasia Hood after her 33 point performance on Wednesday. Louisiana did a great job of denying passes inside and preventing Hood from getting any good post looks.
The Bobcats knew their season was on the line though and continued to claw back. A pair of triples from graduate guard Jo’Nah Johnson helped Texas State go on an 11-2 run in the second quarter to cut the lead to just three. The game was still in reach despite such a cold start, something the Bobcats would surely take.
However, that’s as close as the game would get. Louisiana finished the first half on a 7-0 run to take a 25-18 half-time lead.
After a three-pointer from sophomore guard Sierra Dickson brought the score to 32-27 at the 4:37 mark in the third quarter, the Ragin’ Cajuns went on a 13-0 run to pull away and essentially seal the game.
Senior guard Kennedy Taylor was the leading scorer for the Bobcats with 12. Hood cracked double digits with 11 points but did so on 12 shot attempts.
Sophomore guard Makayia Hallmon led the way in scoring for Louisiana with 19 points, including three makes from distance. Freshman guard Lanay Wheaton wasn’t far behind with 18 points of her own on 8-11 shooting.
After the game Head Coach Zenarae Antoine lamented the loss, but also commended her team’s fight and perseverance throughout such a tough season.
“I thought this team was resilient,” Antoine said. “I thought that we had our peaks and valleys but at the end of the day, we had mostly peaks if you take a look at February. My biggest takeaway from this team in this second wave of COVID is that they’re resilient and that is something that anyone can carry with them whether it’s in the workplace or the basketball court.”