Graduate forward Da’Nasia Hood dropped 22 points and eight rebounds in her return from a four-game absence to lead Texas State (9-3, 1-0 Sun Belt) to an 82-70 victory over Georgia Southern (8-2, 0-1 Sun Belt).
The contest marked Texas State’s first Sun Belt Conference action of the season, and the Bobcats put everyone on notice Thursday afternoon.
“We challenged (our team) in practice to make changes that would help us in Sun Belt Conference play and they did just that today,” coach Zenarae Antoine said after the game. “We worked hard to make the adjustments and answer the challenge with a win on the road versus a team that earned a first-place vote in the league’s preseason coaches’ poll.”
A layup from senior forward Lauryn Thompson and a three from graduate guard Kennedy Taylor gave Texas State an early 5-0 lead to open the game.
Four more triples, including another from Taylor, allowed the Bobcats to go up 20-10.
However, Georgia Southern began to turn up the heat on defense, catalyzing a 9-0 run that was capped off by a fast-break layup after a steal from junior guard Simone James.
But Texas State held fast as a Taylor steal and score to open the second quarter replenished the Bobcat lead. Then Hood caught fire.
With the score at 25-22, Hood would go on to score Texas State’s next eight points to push the lead back to double-digits at 33-23.
The two squads would continue to trade scores before Taylor found Hood for a before-the-half triple. The Bobcats would take a 43-33 lead into intermission.
Hood finished the first frame with 11 points and Texas State was able to hold Georgia Southern to just 33% shooting in the half.
Texas State began to pull away after the break, going on an 8-0 run to take a 19-point lead, their largest of the day.
Despite the deficit, the Eagles kept chipping away. A second-chance 3-pointer from graduate guard Andreana Wrister brought the lead back down to single digits at 70-61 with 2:02 left to play.
With so little time remaining Georgia Southern was forced to foul and hope Texas State wouldn’t capitalize on its free throws, but in the biggest moments, the Bobcats showed up. The ‘Cats would connect on their final 10 freebies to close out the game victorious.
Texas State’s performance at the line proved to be the difference as they made 24 of 30 free throws while Georgia Southern only converted 13 of their 21 attempts.
Graduate guard Ja’Kayla Bowie led the team in free throws with a career-high nine makes. She finished as the second-leading scorer for the ‘Cats with 14 while also snagging six rebounds.
Taylor, Thompson and graduate guard Tianna Eaton scored 10, 11 and 12 respectively, meaning every member of Texas State’s starting five cracked double-digits.
Junior guard Terren Ward was Georgia Southern’s top scorer with 18, but fouled out of the game with 2:38 left to play.
The Bobcats will travel to Troy in hopes of picking up their fourth win in a row. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31 at Trojan Arena in Troy, Alabama.