In their second home game of the season, the Texas State women’s basketball team outscored the University of Texas of the Permian Basin by nearly double, defeating UTPB 83-45 on Saturday morning to improve to 2-1 on the season.
The Bobcats were led by senior guard Brooke Holle, who hit a career-high six threes and a game-high 21 points. Sophomore forward Da’Nasia Hood also hit double figures with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Freshman forward Chelsea Johnson brought in 11 points and led the team with nine rebounds.
Head coach Zenarae Antoine said she was proud of the performance Holle had against UTPB.
“Anytime I have a player that’s able to break a record it’s really fun (and) I’m really, really happy for her,” Antoine said. “Brooke does what she does well. She did a good job of sharing the ball and when it came to her comfortably, she took the shot and the rest is history.”
Texas State got out to a hot start, leading 22-12 after the first quarter. Defensively, the Bobcats played best in the second quarter, holding the Falcons to six points on 2-of-16 shooting. The Bobcats finished the game out strong with 26 points in the fourth quarter.
Antoine said the game went well and helped the team experiment with different lineups.
“There were a lot of positives throughout this game,” Antoine said. “We had an opportunity to play different personnel together in clusters (and) different players were able to step up and really show that they were able to compete and do what we asked them to do as a team.”
The win was a better performance than their last home game and gives them the confidence they need to get more comfortable at Strahan, Antoine said.
“I think it’s important early that we find some comfort and rhythm here at home,” Antoine said. “I felt like we did a better job with our start than we did our previous game at home.”
The easy win may be a breath of fresh air for the Bobcats, who will hit their tough schedule once again on Sunday with a road trip to take on Big 12 foe Kansas.
Kansas missed the NCAA tournament and finished 9th in the Big 12 in 2018 but are currently ranked 2ndin the conference off of a 4-0 season win streak. Kansas most recently defeated the University of Massachusetts- Lowell 79-44 on Sunday under the leadership of senior Mariane De Carvalho, who tied her career-high of 15 points and brought in a double-double with 10 rebounds. The ‘Cats will need team leaders Holle and Hood to solidify their hot-and-cold performances in order to take down the Jayhawks.
The ‘Cats have a week off before they take on Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse at 2 p.m. on Sunday in Lawrence, KS.