SAN MARCOS – The Texas State women's basketball team (7-10, 0-6 SBC) will look for its first league win as it travels to Alabama for a pair of Sun Belt Conference games against Troy (14-3, 5-1 SBC) and South Alabama (9-9, 4-2 SBC). Tip is slated for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 23 against the Trojans and 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25 versus the Jaguars. Both games will be televised on ESPN+ and Clint Shields will provide radio play-by-play coverage on 89.9 KTSW and txstatebobcats.com.

#BobcatBits

• Sophomore guard Kennedy Taylor's 5.2 assists per game leads the Sun Belt Conference. She ranks 24th nationally in assists per game and is fifth among sophomores joining Amanda Mobley (Rider, 5.5 apg), Dru Gylten (Utah, 5.4 apg), Veronica Burton (Northwestern, 5.4 apg) and Ayzhiana Basallo (San Jose State, 5.3 apg). Oregon senior Sabrina Ionescu leads the nation averaging 8.6 apg.
• Twin sister senior guards Brooke and Bailey Holle both rank inside the top three in the Sun Belt's steal leaderboard. Bailey is second in the league with 2.1 swipes per game, while Brooke is tied for third averaging 1.9 steals per game. Brooke has notched two five steal contests against UTSA and Morgan State.
• Brooke is attempting to become the 19th player in Texas State women's basketball history to accumulate 1,000 career points. Holle has scored 886 points during her four seasons and needs to averaged 9.5 ppg over the last 12 regular season games to reach the milestone. She has made 121-of-373 (32.4 percent) of her three-point attempts during her career which is the ninth most made treys in a Texas State career. Kelsey Krupa (2008-12) is next on the list to pass and hit 124 threes.
• Against Louisiana (Jan. 18) she poured in 15 points and grabbed a season-high 11 boards to post the second double-double by a Bobcat this season (Jaeda Reed, 11 points, 11 rebounds vs. LR, Jan. 2).
• Bailey leads the team and ranks sixth in the Sun Belt in three-point field goal percentage (36.5%, 23-for-63). She's shooting 44.4 percent (12-for-27) from long distance during conference-only games and is second among league leaders.
• Sophomore forward Da'Nasia Hood leads the team in scoring and ranks 14th in the Sun Belt averaging 12.8 points per game. She scored a career-high 23 points against Coastal Carolina on Jan. 9, which is the most by any Bobcat this year. She has scored at least 20 points in two of last four games. Her 1.7 made threes per game rank sixth in the Sun Belt. Despite Texas State's struggles in conference games, Hood has elevated her scoring to rank sixth (15.8 ppg) during league only games. Her 30.2 three-point field goal percentage (13-for-43) ranks fourth and 41.8 field goal percentage (38-for-91) is 10th in conference-only action.
• Defensively the Bobcats rank in the top half of the Sun Belt allowing 61.6 ppg (3rd), a 39.3 opponent field goal percentage (5th) and generate 8.8 steals per game (5th). Last season the Bobcats finished the year as the league's fourth best defensive team allowing 62.0 ppg. TXST is second in the league in assists per game (13.5) and assist to turnover ratio (0.9). The Bobcats have limited their turnovers this year and are third in turnover margin (+2.9).
• Head coach Zenarae Antoine is in her ninth season and has amassed 132 wins. She is the fourth head coach in program history to reach the benchmark and is six wins from tying Linda Sharp (1989-97) for third-most victories in school history.

Last Time Out

• Texas State led by 18 points in the third quarter, but Louisiana scored 52 points in the second half to earn the road win, 73-67, on Jan. 18 inside Strahan Arena.
• The Ragin' Cajuns executed a tenacious press in the second half to fluster the Bobcats into 11 turnovers and went 23-for-23 at the free throw stripe.
• Five players scored in double figures for Texas State. Brooke Holle led the way with 15 points and freshman forward Chelsea Johnson made her first six shots from the field en route to a career-high 14 point performance.

Scouting Troy

• The Trojans are tied for first place in the Sun Belt and own a 5-1 league record. Troy's only league loss came at home on Jan. 11 to Louisiana, 79-73. In its last game Troy defeated Georgia State on the road, 71-57.
• The Trojans are 14-3 overall and hold the highest RPI ranking (71) in the Sun Belt.
• Troy leads the country in rebounds per game (54.8), offensive rebounds per game (23.6) and is sixth in defensive rebounds per game (31.2). The Trojans +13.4 rebounding margin mark is fourth in nation.
• Junior guard Jasmine Robinson averages a team-best 12.8 points per game and is joined by senior forward Japonica James (11.3 ppg) and senior guard Kayla Robinson (10.4 ppg) in double figures. Junior forward Alexus Dye leads the team in rebounding (8.3 rpg).
• Chandra Rigby is in her eighth season as Troy's head coach and holds a 121-99 record in Troy. She previously made stops at Tabor College (NAIA), Holmes Community College (Miss.) and Pensacola State Community College and is 350-198 as a collegiate head coach.
• Troy was picked to finish second in the Sun Belt preseason coaches' poll.

Scouting South Alabama

• The Jaguars enter the weekend 9-9 with a 4-2 record in Sun Belt games. South Alabama is riding a three-game winning streak and defeated ULM (72-63), Georgia State (81-64) and Georgia Southern (71-65).
• Senior guard Shaforia Kines leads the team averaging 15.6 points per game. Junior center Antoinette Lewis, the Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year, is the only player in the league averaging a double-double (13.8 ppg, 10.3 rpg).
• Head coach Terry Fowler is in his seventh season in Mobile and has a 69-101 record.
• The Jaguars were tabbed to finish fourth in the Sun Belt preseason coaches' poll.

Series History

• vs. Troy – The series began in 2014 when Texas State joined the Sun Belt and is deadlocked at 5-5. TXST has won two of the last three meetings, but Troy holds the longest winningest streak of the series at four games. Only once in the 10 meetings has the winning team scored fewer than 75 points (2/25/2017, TXST W, 74-72). The Bobcats are 2-2 against the Trojans in Troy.
   
• vs. South Alabama – Texas State holds a sizable 10-2 advantage in the all-time series. TXST won the first game, a non-conference contest in 1995, 78-58. The series resumed in 2014 when Texas State joined the Sun Belt. The teams met twice last season and split, but USA ended TXST's season in the second round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, 68-67.

Up Next

Texas State plays only one game next week when it hosts UTA at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1. Fans have the opportunity to take in the Texas State men's basketball game at 4:30 against Louisiana. Both games will honor the Bobcats' 2019 Sun Belt Conference Championship volleyball team and recently retired head coach Karen Chisum.

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