Texas State women’s basketball opened its 2022-2023 season with a 104-35 drubbing of Howard Payne at Strahan Arena in San Marcos Monday night. 
Texas State welcomed Howard Payne, a team that went 2-18 in the American Southwest Conference and had an overall record of 4-21 last season.
The Bobcats had five players score double-digit points, led by redshirt senior forward Lauryn Thompson. 
The VCU transfer had 22 points doing the majority of her damage in the restricted arc, finishing the night 10-16 from the field including knocking down a three-pointer late in the fourth quarter to go along with seven rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes of play. 
Graduate forward Da’Nasia Hood also had a noteworthy game, cashing in on a three of her own and finishing with 21 points on 8-14 from the field with seven rebounds and one assist. 
“It’s nice to be able to dust off the cobwebs in this opening game,” head coach Zenarae Antoine said. “The nice thing was we were able to run everyone out there today to give them an opportunity to play and take a look at certain things that are going to be really important to us moving forward.” 
As a team, Texas State went 32% from deep, going 11-28 for the game. Six different players buried a three but the Bobcats found multiple ways to score over the course of the game, notching 56 points in the paint, 20 second chance points, 33 bench points and 27 fast break points. They also won the battle on the boards out-rebounding the Yellowjackets 15-10. 
“It’s good to know that we have interior game and exterior game,” Antoine said. “What you saw was consistency from our points, we have multiple forwards that can score.” 
As impressive as the Bobcats were on offense, defensively is where the team excelled, holding the Yellowjackets to 28% shooting from the field, forcing 31 turnovers and only allowing 23 points through the first three quarters. 
Antoine believes there is still room for improvement on defense. 
“When they did a good job of handling our pressure, I think there were times we had a lapse whether it be their ability to take us off the bounce and when they took us off the bounce, they took us to the hole or they were able to kick to wide open three’s so those things have to get better period,” Antoine said. 
For Howard Payne, senior guard Bria Neal was the leading scorer on the night with 13 points on 6-9 from the field along with seven rebounds. As a team, Howard Payne shot poorly from behind the arc, going 4-18. 
“I think we did well, we stayed aggressive,” graduate guard Kennedy Taylor said. “Coaches have been talking about defense ever since we finished last season so I think we stayed aggressive.” 
The Bobcats will now look to turn the focus onto their next opponent, Sam Houston State. 
“They’re a really tough team; they play in the WAC, they get up and down their aggressive defensively,” Antoine said. “So, it’s going to be important that we take this opportunity to highlight some things we did really well, highlight some things that we didn’t and get ready to go on the road.” 
The game between Texas State and Sam Houston State will tip-off at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12, at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas.