A week after their first conference win, the Texas State women’s basketball team (8-14, 1-10) went 0-2 on the weekend with losses to Coastal Carolina (19-3, 9-2) and Appalachian State (7-15, 4-7).
Despite going into the half with a two-point lead, the Bobcats were outscored by the Mountaineers 36-22 in the second half for a loss at Strahan Arena on Saturday.
The Mountaineers started the game hot by jumping out to a 7-2 lead and forcing Texas State to call an early timeout. After the timeout, the Bobcats responded by scoring seven straight points. Texas State then held the Mountaineers to 2-of-10 shooting in the second quarter to take a 25-23 halftime lead.
Texas State was outscored 18-7 in the third quarter as the Mountaineers went 7-of-15 from the field (46.7%) and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. Appalachian State never looked back as they kept at least a seven-point lead for the rest of the game.
Freshman forward Chelsea Johnson matched her career-high of 14 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while senior guard Bailey Holle added 10 points and hit the Bobcats’ only two three-pointers of the game. Holle and Taylor also grabbed five boards apiece.
Holle said that despite their record and losing streak, the Bobcats are not giving up in conference play.
“I just want us to keep fighting,” Holle said. “We have had a tough run but we’ve been working really hard so we’re going to keep fighting.”
The loss to the Mountaineers came after another home loss against Coastal Carolina on Thursday night.
The Bobcats trailed the whole game but cut the lead down to five in the fourth quarter. The Chanticleers were able to close the game on a 6-1 run, however, and took the game 69-59.
Sophomore forward Da’Nasia Hood said that the team needs consistency for conference games coming forward.
“We need to stop trying to play catch up,” Hood said. “We need to play with that same intensity from the first quarter instead of waiting until the fourth quarter to take off.”
At the 3:20 mark in the third quarter, junior forward Jayla Johnson got into shoving match with Coastal’s DJ Williams. Johnson was assessed a double technical and further disqualified while Williams was given a single technical and went to the free-throw line.
Head Coach Zenarae Antoine said that the two teams got aggressive because of their willingness to win.
“This was a hotly battled game between two competitive teams,” Antoine said. “It got chippy at times but you expect that to happen when Coastal has the opportunity to face some adversity in a team that doesn’t back down.”
Hood led the team in scoring with 18 points including a hot hand from the three-point range going 4-5 beyond the arc, while sophomore guard Kennedy Taylor added 14 points to go with her five assists. Senior guard Brooke Holle also finished in double-digits with 12 points.
Texas State will travel to Arkansas next weekend for their next two matchups as the Bobcats battle Little Rock on Thursday followed by a test against Arkansas State on Saturday. The Bobcats last fell to Little Rock, who sits at third in the Sun Belt Conference and has won five of their last six games, in a 78-66 home loss on Jan. 2. Arkansas State sits at seventh and last beat Texas State in a 56-53 upset after the Bobcats held them without a field goal in the last 5:42 of play.
The Bobcats will look to put some more wins under their belt with an away matchup against Little Rock at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday and a Saturday contest at 4 p.m. against Arkansas State.
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