SAN MARCOS, Texas — Stationed in a five-way tie for second-place in the Sun Belt standings, Texas State women's basketball will look to separate itself from the pack with a key road game at Southern Miss on Thursday.
 
Six games remaining and locked in a five-way tie for second-place, the Bobcats are fighting for one of four double-byes in the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Championship tournament in Pensacola. While first-place Troy sits atop the Sun Belt table with a two-game lead over the others, three spots remain among the five teams in second.
 
One of the five teams Texas State is tied with in the Sun Belt standings is Southern Miss. The Bobcats won the first matchup against the Lady Eagles this season – a 62-52 overtime victory in San Marcos on Jan. 28 – but Southern Miss is 9-3 at home this season and in the midst of a four-game homestand.
 
Thursday's 5 pm game is the first of a six-game stretch to close the regular season where the Bobcats will play on the road. Texas State played only two road games over about 40 days in January and early February and will now play 4 in the next 15 days.
 
Texas State is 4-4 on the road this year and won its last game away from San Marcos on Jan. 26 at Old Dominion.
 
Thursday's game can be seen on ESPN+.

BOUNCE BACK

• Texas State responded to a hard-fought loss to Troy last Thursday with a convincing win over ULM on Saturday.
• The Bobcats have not lost back-to-back games since mid-November and are 6-1 in games after losses this year.
• In the last 6 games following a loss, the Bobcats have responded by outscoring their opponents 63.8 to 54.2.
• They also hold their opponents to 35.5 percent shooting (120-of-338) while they shoot 42.2 percent (136-of-322) from the field in games after a loss.

 
Loss vs. Game after Loss
Texas State in 2022-23
Loss               Stat                              Game after Loss
56.6              Points                           61.3
37.1              FG%                             40.0
67.7              Scoring Defense            56.0
39.8              FG% Defense                36.9
33.6              Rebounds                     36.3
44.1              Opp. Rebounds             37.0
14.7              Turnovers Forced          18.7
 
HOODIE SZN

• Da'Nasia Hood is coming off a week of back-to-back double-doubles. She had 17 and 11 against Troy and then 18 and 10 against ULM.
• Hood leads the team with 6 double-doubles this season. She has 16 career double-doubles since her freshman season in 2018-19.
• Hood is third in the Sun Belt Conference with the 6 double-doubles this year.
• She is averaging 15.9 points and 7.6 rebounds this year.
• In her last 4 games, Hood is averaging 17.5 points and 8.3 rebounds. She is also averaging 2.0 and 2.3 steals.
• She has 5 straight games of 10+ points.

 
ON FIRE

• Ja'Kayla Bowie enters this week with 4 straight games of 10+ points. She had 10 in the last game against ULM this past Saturday.
• In the last 4 contests, Bowie is averaging 13.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals.
• She is also shooting 55.9 percent from the field (19-of-34) and 54.5 percent from three (6-of-11) over that stretch.
• For the season, Bowie is averaging 8.5 points on 47.8 percent shooting (64-of-134).
• Bowie already has career-highs in points (188) and steals (31). She is also approaching her career-high in assists, as she has 53 and her personal-best is 64.

 
CLOSING IN

• Fifth-year senior Kennedy Taylor is inching closer to becoming the Sun Belt's all-time leader in career assists.
• Taylor, who is already Texas State's career leader in assists, is 19 assists away from matching Clemette Haskins (Western Kentucky) for the conference record for career assists. Haskins had 731 from 1983-87.
• Taylor is the only Sun Belt player with 500+ career assists in the last 11 years. She is only the second Sun Belt payer in conference history to have 700+ career assists.
• Taylor enters the week 11th in the country in total assists and 12th in assists per game.

 
Sun Belt Conference
Career Assists, All-Time
1. Clemette Haskins, WKU           731                1983-87
2. Kennedy Taylor, TXST             712                2018-Present
3. Amy McNear, WKU                 677                2008-11
4. Ivelina Vrancheva, FIU             631                1999-04
5. Stephanie Richardson, USA      605                1987-91
 
GETTING DEFENSIVE

• Texas State has held 7 of its last 8 opponents to 57 points or less.
• The Bobcats are 37th in the country and 1st in the Sun Belt in scoring defense this year (57.4).
• That is powered by a field goal percentage defense that ranks 20th in the country and 1st in the Sun Belt. Texas State opponents are shooting 35.6 percent against the Bobcats.

 
15 AND COUNTING

• With three weeks remaining, Texas State has already surpassed its win total from a year ago and has its most in a season in 5 years.
• Texas State's 16 wins this year are its most in a campaign since 2017-18 when it went 23-10 (14-4 Sun Belt).