It was the second time this season head coach Zenarae Antoine saw Texas State play with a high level of poise.
The first time came at SMU on Dec. 3. Many of the Bobcats are from the Dallas area and Antoine worried that playing in front of some familiar faces would cause some anxiety for the players. But the team rose to the occasion, defeating the Mustangs 74-70 in overtime.
Antoine had the same concern as the team played in its home-opener on Saturday against Lamar. But once again, the players put her fears to rest as Texas State took down the Cardinals inside Strahan Arena, 69-53.
“They’ve surprised me twice now with how composed they are,” Antoine said. “I was really excited about our student-athletes in our program having an opportunity to play here at home — our only home game here in the preseason. And with that being said, I feel like the players really responded. You never know what the nerves and anxiety is going to be like going into this game and I felt like we did a really good job.”
The Bobcats (3-2) fell into an offensive rut in the first half, failing to score between the 5:28 mark of the first quarter and the 8:12 mark of the second, a 7:16 scoreless stretch. Yet, the hosts held up on the defensive end, only allowing the visitors a one-point lead.
A pair of free throws by junior guard Kennedy Taylor took the lid off the basket and put Texas State back in front, 11-10. Lamar scored a layup on the next possession, but the maroon and gold responded with a 10-0 run to go up 21-12.
But the hosts hit another snag when Taylor and senior guard Avionne Alexander each picked up their third fouls and had to spend a chunk of the second period on the bench. The Cardinals (1-6) closed out the half on an 8-0 run of their own, though, tying the game up by halftime, 22-22.
“I think the early foul trouble got us off-kilter,” Antoine said. “The group that’s been playing is seven to eight of them, playing together quite a bit. They’ve developed some chemistry now over time, so when that change with foul trouble … that changed the dynamic some.”
The offense came alive in the third quarter, with Da’Nasia Hood leading the charge. The Bobcats made it a point to get to the free throw line, sinking 10-13 foul shots. The team also began finding Hood inside as the junior forward scored 13 points in the period.
Texas State outscored Lamar 26-12 in the quarter, taking a 48-34 lead.
“(I was) getting to the basket and just being more aggressive,” Hood said. “I’ve been trying to work on having better third quarters — we have been as a whole team. But individually, myself, just finding different ways to score when I can’t get my shot off at the three. So I’m really just focusing on other ways to score and help my teammates out.”
The hosts continued to make the Cardinals pay at the stripe, hitting 10-14 free throws in the fourth quarter to stay in front and take the 69-53 win.
Hood finished the game with a team-high 22 points, followed by redshirt sophomore forward Lauryn Thompson with 16 and Taylor with 14. Hood and Thompson both finished just one board shy of a double-double- with nine rebounds each.
The Bobcats were unable to find an opponent to replace their home game against Morgan State that was scheduled for Monday. Antoine said that while they had an opportunity to play, it would have required the team to travel, which the head coach didn’t think would be fair to the players.
Instead, Texas State will stay home during the holiday break and resume play on Jan. 1 when it hosts Louisiana (1-4) in the teams’ Sun Belt opener. Antoine hoped the composure of the Bobcats would carry over after the break.
“We’re in a pretty good place right now going into the break and into conference play,” Hood said. “I know we still have a lot to work on, like on turnovers and just making adjustments quicker in the game, but we’ve really been focusing on trying to progress as a team and not individually. So just helping the next person out is what we’ve really been focusing on, so I think we can really get to a really great place. If we just continue to practice hard and focus on the little things.”
