PENSACOLA, Fla. – Four Bobcats score in double-figures as Texas State rolled past Georgia Southern, 94-61, in the First Round of the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball Championship Friday afternoon at Pensacola State College.
The Bobcats improved to 11-10 on the season while the Eagles close the year at 11-13.
Georgia Southern got on the board first as Sarah Moore laid one in off a pass from Eden Johnson to open the game, but the Bobcats used a jumper and back-to-back foul shots to take a 4-2 lead. The Eagles tied the game at four off a pair of free throws from Tatum Barber with 6:06 remaining in the quarter. The Bobcat defense was too much for the Eagles as it forced 11 turnovers, which turned into 13 points. Texas State closed out the quarter on a 17-4 run to make it, 21-8. Both teams shot perfect from the foul line (GS: 4-of-4; TXST: 9-of-9).
Texas State picked up right where it left off in the first quarter to start the second. The Eagles were able to get within 15 with 7:21 left in the quarter, but Texas State wasted no time as it put together a 23-4 run, its largest run of the game, to go into the locker room up, 50-17. Texas State shot 11-of-14 (78.57%) from the field for the quarter.
Coming out of the break, Georgia Southern tried to make a dent into the Bobcats lead, but both teams ended up trading baskets for the first 5:48 of the third. With 3:50 remaining, Texas State used its third run (15-6) to close out the quarter with an 81-37 lead.
Terren Ward got the ball rolling for the Eagles 33 seconds into the fourth as she laid one in from Daeja Holmes. Georgia Southern controlled most of the final quarter as it used a 24-10 run to close the contest, but the Texas State lead was too much to overcome.
Georgia Southern won the battle on the glass, 37-30 with 15 of them being on the offensive side. The Eagles were able to convert those offensive rebounds into 14 second chance points.
The Bobcats as a team went 21-of-24 from the foul line with Gabby Standifer going 7-of-7.
Texas State was led by Ja’Kayla Bowie and Da’Nasia Hood, who finished with a game-high 19 points each. Bowie finished the game going 8-of-11 from the field while Hood was 7-of-13.
Teammates Lauryn Thompson and Kennedy Taylor closed out the scoring as the next two top scorers for the Bobcats with 14 and 11 points. Taylor led the team in three-points as she knocked down a trio of them and grabbed five boards in the process.
The Eagles were led by Barber and Holmes, who each finished with 12 points. Holmes went a perfect 7-of-7 from the free line. Moore, who got the team on the board in the first tallied 10 points and a team-high six rebounds.
Texas State moves on to the Quarterfinals on Saturday, March 6 to face the East Division No. 1 seed Troy at 11 a.m. CT at the Pensacola Bay Center.