Texas State wasn’t prepared to begin conference play 0-2. It also wasn’t prepared to lose its starting point guard.
Kennedy Taylor suffered an injury after Thursday’s loss to Little Rock that ruled her out of Saturday’s contest against Arkansas State. Taylor started in all 12 games she played in, leading the team with 33.5 minutes per game and a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Head coach Zenarae Antoine inserted senior guard Bailey Holle in Taylor’s place in the starting lineup, but the Bobcats couldn’t overcome the lack of playmaking. The team dished out 14 assists and committing 19 turnovers while falling to the Red Wolves (4-9, 1-1 Sun Belt), 56-53.
“It's tough when you lose a kid with an assist-to-turnover ratio and the assists that (Taylor's) able to create for us,” Antoine said. “I think that obviously, it has an impact on the game with the 19 turnovers that you see, but I also had confidence going into this game that we wouldn't necessarily fall short because we didn't have Kennedy. We'd need to step it up defensively and that's really where we faltered.”
The impact of Taylor’s absence was felt immediately. The maroon and gold coughed the ball up seven times in the first quarter, six of them coming from steals by the visitors. Texas State made just 5-of-13 field goals but made up for it by playing tight defense and outrebounding Arkansas State, 13-7.
By the end of the first quarter, the Bobcats held an 11-10 lead, stifling the Red Wolves to 4-15 shooting.
“I just think that probably missing (Taylor), in the beginning, it took us a minute to adjust,” junior guard Avionne Alexander said. “And then just trying to find the gaps and the open shots, it was kind of tough at the beginning. It just took us a minute to find that flow, I guess, without Kennedy being there.”
The hosts’ shooting slumped even more in the second quarter, making 2-15 from the floor, as Arkansas State took a 23-21 lead heading into halftime. Alexander helped get them back on track, scoring six points of Texas State’s 19 points in the third quarter. But the Red Wolves kept capitalizing on the Bobcats’ mistakes, scoring 12 points off turnovers to stay ahead 41-40 entering the final period.
The maroon and gold kept it close. Sophomore forward Da’Nasia Hood hit a jumper with under a minute left to cut the lead to one point. The visitors turned the ball over on the other end, leading to another open look for Hood at the top of the key. The shot rimmed out, but fell out of bounds on Arkansas State with eight seconds left.
Antoine called timeout and drew up a play for her team, but the Red Wolves stole Alexander’s inbounds pass. Sophomore forward Jayla Johnson committed a clear path foul, giving the Red Wolves a pair of free throws and the ball back, allowing them to seal the 56-53 victory.
The Bobcats were outscored in points off turnovers, 22-5, and second-chance points, 11-3.
“I think we just wanted it too quickly,” Antoine said. “When you take out a starting point guard from the equation, especially one that has the assist-to-turnover ratio that Kennedy has, the team is always going to have the thought process of, 'OK, alright, let's step up and let's find these shots.' I think that's a product of what you see right now, the inability to be able to get something out of those second chance opportunities, mostly because they wanted to, but you know, we're just pressing a little too hard, if that makes sense, versus just trusting, pulling it back, let's run offense to something good.”
Hood led the team with 14 points, followed by Alexander with a career-high 13. Alexander also tied with senior guard Bailey Holle with a team-high four assists.
Antoine said after Saturday’s game there was no timetable for Taylor’s return. Hood said the team will need to be prepared regardless as Texas State (7-6, 0-2) heads to Coastal Carolina (11-2, 1-1) in Conway, South Carolina on Thursday to play the Chanticleers at 5 p.m.
“Just focus and taking accountability for ourselves,” Hood said. “We've been working on our responses back to our coaches and our teammates when people are getting on us. So just locking in and focusing and also practicing my in-game adjustments, how we can get better at that too.”
