SAN MARCOS, TX — Having inched closer to the program's all-time career wins mark last week, head coach
Zenarae Antoine and the Texas State women's basketball program return to Strahan Arena for a pair of Sun Belt Conference games this week.
Action begins on Thursday, Jan. 5, when Texas State (9-4, 1-1) take on App State (5-8, 1-1) at 7 p.m. CT. A win over the Mountaineers would tie Antoine with Suzanne Fox, who will serve as the analyst on the ESPN+ broadcast, as the all-time winningest Texas State women's basketball head coach.
Fox will, again, wear the headset alongside Brant Freeman (play by play) for the ESPN+ broadcast of Saturday's game between Texas State and Louisiana (7-7, 1-1) that starts at 2 p.m. CT.
WELL, HELLO THERE
- App State:
- Thursday night's game will mark the first time App State has played a women's basketball game in San Marcos since Feb. 8, 2020, when the Mountaineers won 59-47.
- Texas State will be looking for its first win over App State since Feb. 3, 2018, when the Bobcats won 92-50 inside Strahan Arena.
- That win was the final of a three-game winning streak by Texas State, the second-longest winning streak by either team in the series history.
- App State is currently riding a five-game winning streak in the series history.
- Overall, App State leads the series history, 8-5, since the first-ever meeting between the two women's basketball programs on Jan. 24, 2015, when Texas State 67-58.
- Louisiana:
- Despite, Louisiana leading the overall series, 15-10, since the first-ever women's basketball game between the two universities on Dec. 2, 1994, which Texas State won 77-60,
- Last season's 72-71 overtime win for Texas State snapped a four-game winning streak by Louisiana in the series history, which was the longest winning streak by either team throughout the series history.
- Texas State's last two wins over Louisiana have occurred inside Strahan Arena.
ALMOST THERE
- With two more wins, Zenarae Antoine will pass Suzanne Fox (1998-11) and become the all-time winningest head coach in Texas State women's basketball history.
JOINING THE PARTY
- With seven more points, Taelour Pruitt will become the third active Texas State women's basketball student-athlete to surpass 1,000 career collegiate points scored.
- Pruitt, who is in her first season as a Bobcat following a four-year career at SEMO, came to San Marcos having scored 899 career points as a Redhawk. In 13 games at Texas State, she has scored 94 points on 41.9 percent shooting.
- Da'Nasia Hood (1,547) and Kennedy Taylor (1,141) are the only other active Texas State women's basketball student-athletes who have already surpassed the career milestone.
DIME A DOZEN
- Heading into this week's set of games, Kennedy Taylor is leading the Sun Belt Conference with 77 assists and a 5.9 assists per game average through 13 contests so far this season.
- Marshall's Abby Beeman is the next closest student-athlete to Taylor's statistics as Beeman has been credited with 68 assists and a 5.2 assists per game clip in 13 games played.
- In conference-only action, Taylor has recorded 12 assists through two Sun Belt games.
- Only James Madison's Kiki Jefferson (13) and Georgia Southern's Ja'nya Love-Hill (13) have more against league foes.
HOODY SZN
- Following her 12-point performance at Troy on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022, Da'Nasia Hood (2018-P) passed Toshua Leavitt (2015-19) for ninth place on the Texas State women's basketball career scoring list.
- By passing Leavitt, Hood becomes the highest scoring student-athlete under 12th-year head coach Zenarae Antoine with 1,547 career points.
- Leavitt finished her four-year Bobcat career with 1,542 career points.
- The only student-athlete above Hood on the program's career scoring list to have played under Antoine was Diamond Ford, who is second on the list with 1,906 career points from 2009 to 2013.
- Despite the point total, though, Ford only scored 599 points in her lone season under Antoine during the 2012-13 campaign.
MAKING THEM COUNT
- Over the last two conference games, fifth-year senior Ja'Kayla Bowie has knocked down 13 of her last 14 free throw attempts, including a career-high nine of 10 at Georgia Southern on Dec. 29, 2022.
- Bowie's 13 made free throws are the most by any Bobcat women's basketball student-athlete during the recent two-game span.
- Furthermore, Bowie's 13 made free throws over the last two games are the most by any Texas State women's basketball student-athlete since Da'Nasia Hood had 15 in back-to-back games against UTSA (4) and Loyola Marymount (11) earlier this season.
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.
