The Texas State women’s basketball team bounced back from a heart-breaking loss Tuesday and beat the Prairie View A&M Panther 84-57 inside Strahan Coliseum Dec. 2.
The win gives Texas State a record of 5-2 and also momentum heading into the rivalry game next week against UTSA.
After the game, head coach Zenarae Antoine admitted to still having Tuesday’s loss on her mind before the game, but her team’s performance made all of that disappear.
“It was excellent to see our team bounce back the way they did today against a tough opponent in Prairie View,” said Antoine. “I am not going to lie, that game on Tuesday night was eating at me all the way up until tip today. Our girls showed a lot of grit to come out and play the way they did today.”
In the first half, the Bobcats outscored the Panthers 40-28, led by junior guard Toshua Leavitt with 11 points while shooting 50 percent from the field, which is a big improvement from the last game she played against Houston.
Senior Taeler Deer also came out with something to prove and did just that. She didn’t miss a single shot in the first half, and had nine points and five assists. The Bobcats as a team shot 46 percent from the field versus the Panthers’ 34 percent.
In the second half, nothing changed for the Bobcats. They came out and scored 44 points and held the Panthers to just 29. They momentum of the second half was led by senior Ti’Aria Pitts with 11 points in just seven minutes on the court.
The Bobcats showed their unique versatility by finishing the game with four players in double-digits and six players with two or more assists in the game.
After scoring the first seven points of the game for the Bobcats, Pitts got her and the Bobcats off to a good start which ended with a win and a career high of 18 points in only 12 minutes of game action for the senior forward.
Texas State outperformed the panthers in bench points (20-6), second chance points (21-10), points in the paint (38-24) and points off turnovers (21-19). They lead throughout out the entire game and never allowed Prairie View A&M to take the lead.
Texas State’s next game will be against I-35 rivalry game against UTSA. The game will be on Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. inside the Strahan Coliseum.