Texas State women’s basketball (15-6, 7-3 Sun Belt Conference) defeated Southern Mississippi (14-7, 7-3 Sun Belt Conference) 62-52 in overtime after a tense fourth quarter Saturday Jan. 28, at Strahan Arena.
The Bobcats maintained a lead over Southern Mississippi for most of the game, only falling behind for about 45 seconds for the entirety of the match. Texas State finished the first quarter with an impressive lead of 17-9 over the Eagles.
In the second quarter, despite Texas State continuing with the momentum it established in the first quarter, Southern Mississippi’s offense lessened the Bobcat lead to a mere three points. The teams finished the second quarter with a score of 27-24 after Texas State ran the clock out to go into halftime. 
Texas State started the third quarter with a successful fast break jump shot by graduate student guard, Tianna Eaton, followed by a Southern Mississippi 3-pointer, bringing the score to a three point difference of 31-28. The Golden Eagles offense followed with two more 3-pointers, overtaking Texas State by one point for a score of 34-33 after the Bobcats struggled with getting in between the Southern Miss players and the basket. 
Graduate student forward, Da’Nasia Hood, put the Bobcats back in the lead to end the third quarter after scoring a 3-pointer followed by a successful layup with 28 seconds left, bringing the score to a four point difference of 38-34. 
“It was very important [to get into a rhythm] just so I can be out there and help contribute on both ends to help my team. We need every player on this team, down to the last on the bench. Getting going, hitting a few shots and opening up the basket, I think it meant a lot to our team today,” said Hood. 
Southern Mississippi continued to hustle to gain on Texas State in the fourth quarter, bringing the match to a one point difference, 39-38, after a layup in the paint. The two teams continued to go back-and-forth with layups, and the Bobcats gained more of a lead after graduate student guard, Kennedy Taylor, cashed in on a 3-pointer, increasing the Bobcat lead to 46-40.
In a desperate attempt to lessen Texas State’s lead, Southern Mississippi had three fouls within 15 seconds, which worked for them as they were able to score a 3-pointer followed by a successful free throw after a foul on Taylor, tying up the score 48-48 to end the fourth period and go into overtime. 
“As the season has gone on, we’ve talked about [pressure] as a team, not necessarily pressure but adversity,” head coach Zenarare Antoine said. “I think there’s definitely a high level of confidence in different areas that they have in each other and within our program. When you hit adversity, it’s not something you haven’t seen before. Sometimes you hit adversity that is familiar and we might have a flashback and we struggle but we fight through.” 
To begin overtime, Southern Mississippi won the tipoff. After an unsuccessful layup attempt by the Golden Eagles, the teams alternated fouling each other, maintaining the tied score until Texas State graduate student guard, Ja’Kayla Bowie, had a breakaway layup to bring the score to 53-49. 
The Bobcats found their momentum following Bowie’s layup, gaining an impressive 10 point lead over the Eagles to finish the game in overtime with a score of 62-52, giving Texas State an official spot in the four-way tie for second place in the Sun Belt Conference.
Texas State women’s basketball is set to play their next match Thursday against Troy.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 2 at Strahan Arena in San Marcos.