STATESBORO, Ga. — For the first time in 26 days,
Da'Nasia Hood took the court for a Texas State women's basketball game. And the San Antonio native showed little rust in the Bobcats' 82-70 win at Georgia Southern.
After scoring 26 points against Loyola Marymount on Dec. 3, 2022, Hood went on to miss the next four Texas State women's basketball contests but returned to action Thursday night in typical
Da'Nasia Hood fashion as the 6-foot-1 forward scored a game-high 22 points on 9-of-19 shooting. She also tied teammate
Lauryn Thompson with a team-high eight rebounds to go along with a team-leading three steals in 34 minutes of game action. Hood, Texas State's two-time All-Sun Belt Preseason First Team selection, has now scored 12-or-more points in every game she's appeared in this season.
Even though her shot started falling after a few warm-up shots, Hood wasted no time impacting the game as she collected the first of 40 rebounds for the Bobcats when she gathered the loose basketball off a Taya Gibson miss layup less than 10 seconds into the first quarter. On the other end of the court, she was credited with the assist on
Lauryn Thompson's layup for the first basket of the contest.
As Georgia Southern made a late first-quarter run to cut its deficit to one after 10 minutes, Hood found her shooting rhythm as she scored a game-leading 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting during the second quarter. Her scoring output played a large factor in turning a one-point lead into a 10-point halftime advantage for Texas State. She went on to add 11 more points of 4-of-7 shooting during the third and fourth quarters.
Hood also knocked down both of her second-half free throw attempts as part of a 20-for-22 (90.9 percent) performance from the free throw line for Texas State.
FROM HEAD COACH ZENARAE ANTOINE
"I'm very proud of our young women for how they came out to earn this win today. After the Christmas break, we challenged them in practice to make changes that would help us in Sun Belt Conference play and they did just that today. Georgia Southern is a well-coached, relentless team. We worked hard to make the adjustments and answer the challenge with a win on the road versus a team that earned a first-place vote in the league's preseason coaches' poll."
STAT LEADERS
SCORES BY QUARTERS
- 1st | Texas State 20, Georgia Southern 19
- 2nd | Texas State 43, Georgia Southern 33
- 3rd | Texas State 63, Georgia Southern 49
- 4th | Texas State 82, Georgia Southern 70
MATCH NOTES
- With the win, Texas State women's basketball head coach Zenarae Antoine moves to 9-1 in conference-opening games since the Bobcats joined the Sun Belt Conference prior to the 2013-14 season.
- Antoine and the Bobcats have won their last three consecutive conference-opening contests.
- By earning the 12-point victory Thursday night, Texas State's women's basketball program has now won the last four consecutive basketball games against Georgia Southern, the longest winning streak by either program in the series history.
- The Bobcats have not lost to the Eagles in Statesboro, Ga., since Feb. 18, 2017.
- Texas State now moves to the 3-0 in program history when opening Sun Belt action against Georgia Southern.
- The Bobcats, in addition to Thursday evening's win, also opened conference play during the 2015-16 and 2018-19 seasons with a victory over the Eagles.
- 12th-year head coach Zenarae Antoine now moves to one win of tying Suzanne Fox (1997-11) for the most wins by a head coach in Texas State women's basketball history.
- Thursday's game at Georgia Southern marked the first basketball game for Texas State outside of the state of Texas this season.
- As part of Texas State's 24-for-30 performance from the free throw line, fifth-year senior guard Ja'Kayla Bowie turned in a career performance from the free throw line as the Tyler, Texas native finished Thursday night's win making nine of her 10 free throw attempts, both career highs.
- Bowie became the first Texas State women's basketball student-athlete to attempt 10-or-more free throws in a single game since Da'Nasia Hood attempted 11 against Loyola Marymount on Dec. 3, 2022.
- Thursday evening's game in Statesboro, Ga., marked the first time this season that all five Texas State starters finished with double-digit points: Da'Nasia Hood (22), Ja'Kayla Bowie (14), Tianna Eaton (12), Lauryn Thompson (11) and Kennedy Taylor (10).
- Texas State's eight made 3-point attempts against Georgia Southern on Thursday were the most by the Bobcats against a conference opponent this season and tied for the most regardless of opponent.
- Texas State also knocked down eight shots behind the 3-point arc against UNT Dallas on Dec. 22 and at UTEP on Nov. 19.
UP NEXT
- Texas State (9-3, 1-0) will now turn its attention to Troy when the Bobcats and Trojans tangle in Troy, Ala., at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31.
- Troy opened its Sun Belt schedule with a home matchup against Southern Miss on Thursday, Dec. 29.
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.
