Coming in as the fourth seed in the West Division, Texas State women’s basketball (10-10 overall, 7-8 Sun Belt) will play the fifth seed in the East Division, Georgia Southern University (11-12 overall, 5-9 Sun Belt), in the first round of the Sun Belt Championship on March 5 in Pensacola, Florida.
Leading up to the tournament, Texas State won back-to-back games against the University of Louisiana at Monroe while Georgia Southern lost twice to Appalachian State University.
This will be a game of offense versus defense. The Eagles have the second-best offense in the conference, scoring 76.2 points per contest. The Bobcats have the fourth-best defense only allowing 58 points per game. Both teams struggle on the other side of the floor, Georgia Southern ranks 10th on defense, allowing 71.2 points per game, and Texas State ranks 10th on offense only scoring 59.9 points per game.
The Bobcats have the third-best turnover margin in the Sun Belt Conference, only committing 16.7, 2.2 less than their opponents. Georgia Southern on the other hand commits 21.2 turnovers per game, the most in the Sun Belt.
The Bobcats are led by junior forward Da’Nasia Hood who ranks second in points per game at 16 while shooting the fourth-best from the field at 40.5%. She also ranks 11th in rebounds with 6.8 per game.
Hood’s frontcourt partner sophomore forward Lauryn Thompson chips in 11 points per game and is 13th in the Sun Belt in rebounds at 6.7. Thompson has made the seventh most free throws this season with 65 while shooting a conference-best 86.7% from the line.
In the backcourt, junior guard Kennedy Taylor scores 10.8 points per game and ranks second in steals with 2.1 and third in assists with 5.4.
The Eagles do not have one go-to scorer but instead evenly distribute points among the roster. No player on the team plays more than 20 minutes a game and eight players average at least six points. Leading the way is senior guard A’Yanna Gaulden with 9.6 points and 1.4 steals. Following Gaulden is freshman guard/forward Terren Ward with eight points, 4.8 rebounds and one steal per game. Georgia Southern’s leading rebounder is sophomore forward Shondell Vickers with 6.3 while also scoring 7.1 points a game.
Tip-off is at 11:30 a.m. at Pensacola State College in Pensacola, Florida and will be streamed on ESPN+.
