SAN MARCOS, TX — Forty-five seconds remained in the third quarter of Texas State's 101-32 win over Arlington Baptist Tuesday night. And everyone knew fifth-year senior
Kennedy Taylor was on the verge of history.
Arlington Baptist's Aspyn Huseman missed a 3-point attempt and Taylor gathered the rebound. The 5-foot-3 point guard dribbled up the court as sixth-year senior
Tianna Eaton positioned herself in the corner opponent the Bobcat bench.
Chelsea Johnson ran to the top of the key to set a screen for Taylor. After two steps and a quick dribble, Taylor fired a chest pass towards the California native.
Eaton, a 5-foot-10 guard, caught the pass, immediately rose off the floor, and shot the basketball. With Eaton's right arm still in the air and Taylor already running back down the court with a smile on her face, there was a new career assist leader for the Texas State women's basketball program.
Taylor, who has two of the program's top three single season assist marks, passed Shelly Borton (1986-90) for the top spot, needing just 114 career Division I women's basketball games to be credited with 597 career assists. No active Division I women's basketball student-athlete has more career assists than Taylor. She's more than 230 career assists ahead of the next closest student-athlete in the Sun Belt Conference.
FROM HEAD COACH ZENARAE ANTOINE
"What a great day it is to be a Bobcat. And for a lot of different reasons, but (
Kennedy Taylor) to become the all-time assist leader here at Texas State is really special. For me to be a part of that journey is truly special. To have her parents here is just exciting. Tonight, took me back to a time when another player broke records for us in Taeler Deer and Toshua Levitt and Toshua did the same thing as Tianna (Eaton) did tonight in that she wanted the ball because she was going to make her shots for Kennedy. I thought for Kennedy to be able to do achieve this career milestone at home, in front of her friends and family, is truly remarkable."
FROM GUARD KENNEDY TAYLOR
"It feels amazing to be able to accomplish this. I really just have to shoutout all of my teammates I currently have and had during my time here at Texas State. I also have to shoutout (
Tianna Eaton) for hitting the basket that pushed me ahead, too. And I appreciate the coaches for believing in me and putting me in the system that I am able to succeed and surrounding me with great players who can score. It's all just an amazing feeling."
STAT LEADERS
SCORES BY QUARTERS
- 1st | Texas State 29, Arlington Baptist 12
- 2nd | Texas State 56, Arlington Baptist 19
- 3rd | Texas State 81, Arlington Baptist 27
- 4th | Texas State 101, Arlington Baptist 32
GAME NOTES
- First-year Bobcat Morgan Hill finished Tuesday's game with her second career collegiate double-double as the Houston native scored a career-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with a career-high 15 rebounds.
- Hill's only other collegiate double-double occurred on Feb. 13, 2021, when she scored 16 points and brought down 10 rebounds as a member of the ULM women's basketball program.
- Tuesday night also provided an opportunity for fourth-year senior Chelsea Johnson to turn in a career performance as the Shreveport, La., native brought down a career-high 11 rebounds and was credited with a career-high three assists against Arlington Baptist.
- In two games against Arlington Baptist, the Texas State women's basketball program now has four student-athletes to have recorded double-doubles as Morgan Hill (2022-23) joined Da'Nasia Hood, Lauryn Thompson, and Gabby Standifer, who all accomplished the feat during the 2021-22 season.
- In just her third career collegiate women's basketball game, freshman Kennedy Claybrooks turned in another career performance as the Cordova, Tenn., native finished with career highs in points (9), assists (3), field goals made (3), field goal attempts (8), 3-point field goals made (1), 3-point field goal attempts (6), free throws made (2) and free throw attempts (3).
- By finishing Tuesday evening's game with 101 points, Texas State has now scored 100-or-more points in multiple games in a single season for the first time since the 1987-88 season.
- The Bobcats won at Texas – Pan American 111-54 on Dec. 17, 1987, and then beat Little Rock, 101-65, on Jan. 13, 1988.
UP NEXT
- Texas State (3-0) will, again, hit the road for its next game when the Bobcats travel to El Paso to play UTEP inside Don Haskins Center at 6 PM CT on Saturday, Nov. 19.
- A win over the Miners, would give Texas State its best start to a season at 4-0 since the 2005-06 season, when the Bobcats won their first seven games to begin the campaign.
FOLLOW US
- For the latest information on the team, follow @TXStateWBB on Twitter and Instagram. General athletic news can also be at @TxStateBobcats on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
