SAN MARCOS, Texas – In what was a battle between two teams in the top-four of the Sun Belt standings, Texas State outlasted first-place Southern Miss with a 62-52 win in overtime on Saturday in Strahan Arena.
 
The Bobcats (15-6, 7-3 Sun Belt) outscored the Lady Eagles (14-7, 7-3 Sun Belt) 14-4 in the extra period after a regulation in which Texas State led for all but four minutes of it.
 
The win moved Texas State into a four-way tie for second-place in the Sun Belt standings. The Bobcats will face first-place Troy (13-8, 8-2 Sun Belt) at home on Thursday.
 
Three Bobcats reached double-figures in scoring, led by Da'Nasia Hood who had 17 on 6-of-13 shooting. The graduate student added three rebounds, three steals and two assists.
 
Kennedy Taylor (12) and Ja'Kayla Bowie (12) also scored double-digit points.
 
Bowie had the first five Texas State points in overtime to help the Bobcats build a 53-49 lead. Tianna Eaton hit a pull-up jumper and Da'Nasia Hood converted a fastbreak lay-up to make a seven-point advantage while Taylor had three free throws in the final minute to ice the game.
 
Texas State's defense was the story of the game as it totaled 13 steals – matching its season-high – and forced Southern Miss into 28 turnovers. Seven different Bobcats tallied at least one steal, including the team-high three by Hood.
 
The Bobcats scored 26 of their 62 points off Southern Miss turnovers.
 
Southern Miss was held to 34.6 percent shooting from the field (18-of-52), including 1-of-6 in overtime. The Lady Eagles were 5-of-10 in the fourth quarter, helping them erase a four-point lead that Texas State carried into the final stanza in regulation.
 
FROM HEAD COACH ZENARAE ANTOINE
"Really good defensively of challenging ourselves and taking it to another level. We saw players lay out on the floor. We saw players hustle after the ball. We saw a lot of deflections in a lot of different ways."
 
"As the season has gone on, we've talked about it as a team, not necessarily pressure but adversity. I think there's definitely a high level of confidence in different areas that they have in each other and within our program. When you hit adversity, it's not something you haven't seen before. Sometimes you hit adversity that is familiar and we might have a flashback and we struggle but we fight through. But then there's something new that you haven't necessarily and how we work together with some sort of resolve is really important."
 
FROM DA'NASIA HOOD
"It was very important (to get into a rhythm) just so I can be out there and help contribute on both ends to help my team. We need every player on this team, down to the last on the bench. Getting going, hitting a few shots and opening up the basket, I think it meant a lot to our team today."
 
STAT LEADERS

• Points – Da'Nasia Hood (17)
• Rebounds – Lauryn Thompson (9)
• Assists – Kennedy Taylor, Tianna Eaton (4)
• Steals – Da'Nasia Hood (3)
• Blocks – Tianna Eaton (1)

 
SCORES BY QUARTER
1st | Texas State 17, Southern Miss 9
2nd | Texas State 27, Southern Miss 24
3rd | Texas State 38, Southern Miss 34
4th | Texas State 48, Southern Miss 48
OT | Texas State 62, Southern Miss 52
 
GAME NOTES

• Texas State is 11-2 at home this season. It has its most wins at home since 2017-18 when it had 11 for the entire season.
• Saturday was the first of three straight home games for the Bobcats.
• The Bobcats are 2-3 on Saturdays in conference play.
• Texas State is 5-1 in its last 6 games.
• The Bobcats have held opponents under 60 points in 6 straight games.
• Lauryn Thompson led the team with 9 rebounds.
• With the help of the 17 points, Da'Nasia Hood became the 7th different Bobcat in program history to score 1,600+ points in a career. Hood currently has 1,615 in her career.
• Kennedy Taylor finished with 4 assists as she now has 699 in her career.
• Texas State had 14 assists on its 22 field goals.
• Jaeda Reed had 9 points on 4-of-5 shooting along with 4 rebounds. The points matched her season-high.
• Texas State led by as much as 13 points early in the first quarter (17-4).
• Southern Miss's largest lead was one point at 34-33.
• Texas State's 20 trips to the free throw line were its most in a game since Jan. 19, 2023 at ULM. The Bobcats have 20+ free throw attempts in 5 of their 10 conference games.
• The 28 turnovers by Southern Miss were the second-highest by a Texas State opponent this season (31, Howard Payne on Nov. 7, 2022).
• Texas State was out-rebounded 39-31. The Bobcats have lost the rebounding advantage in 4 straight games but have a 3-1 record over the stretch.
• Saturday was Texas State's second overtime game of the season. It was its first win in an overtime game since Feb. 10, 2022 vs. Louisiana (W, 72-71).

 
UP NEXT
The Bobcats continue their three-game homestand on Thursday, February 2 with a matchup against Troy. Tip-off is set for 7 pm in Strahan Arena and is the Bobcats' Play4Kay Pink Game and will have a pink t-shirt giveaway, sponsored by UFCU, for fans. The Bobcats lost the earlier matchup this season against the Trojans, 79-63, on December 31 at Troy.