PENSACOLA, Fla. – Da'Nasia Hood matched her season-high with 30 points, the Texas State bench scored 39 points, and the Bobcats controlled Southern Miss in an 85-57 win in the 2023 Hercules Tire Sun Belt Basketball Championship semifinals on Sunday at the Pensacola Bay Center.
 
The Bobcats (23-8, 13-5 Sun Belt) moved on to the tournament championship game on Monday against JMU (1 pm, ESPNU) thanks to Hood's double-double with 30 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. The graduate student shot 12-of-19 from the field (63.2 percent) and 5-of-6 from three (83.3 percent).
 
Complementing Hood was a Bobcat bench that scored its most points in a game against a Sun Belt team this season. Texas State, which was averaging 15.2 bench points coming into the contest, had Taelour Pruitt score 17 off the bench, Jaeda Reed with a career-high 16, and Kennedy Claybrooks with six.
 
The 28-point win by the Bobcats was the largest in a Sun Belt tournament semifinals game since 2017.
 
The Sun Belt championship game berth is Texas State's second all-time and first since 2018.
 
While Texas State shot 50.9 percent from the field, its defense held Southern Miss (21-10, 13-5 Sun Belt) to just 19 field goals made on 56 attempts (33.9 percent). The Bobcats limited the Lady Eagles to 1-of-18 in the third quarter, including 0-of-6 from three.
 
The Bobcats, who led for 37+ minutes, trailed early in the first quarter but a 15-0 run by Texas State gave it a 20-8 advantage through the first eight minutes of the game. Reed had eight of the 15 points in the run.
 
Texas State also took care of the ball to build its lead as it had no turnovers while Southern Miss had 10 in the first 16 minutes. However, its first two turnovers turned into five points for the Lady Eagles as they pulled within two, 30-28, with 3:13 left in the first half.
 
Leading 41-33 at halftime, the Bobcats scored the second-half's first seven points, including a three-pointer by Bowie and back-to-back baskets by Hood, to give Texas State a 48-33 lead three minutes into the third quarter. The Lady Eagles had to call an early timeout after Hood's second make of the second half, which gave her 17 points at that point.
 
While Southern Miss was held to only one field goal made in the third, Texas State shot 50 percent from the field in the quarter to outscore the Lady Eagles, 18-5.
 
The Bobcats finished the second half with a 58.6 shooting percentage (17-of-29).

 
STAT LEADERS

• Points – Da'Nasia Hood (30)
• Rebounds – Da'Nasia Hood (16)
• Assists – Lauryn Thompson, Ja'Kayla Bowie, Taelour Pruitt (4)
• Steals – Tianna Eaton (3)
• Blocks – Ja'Kayla Bowie (1)

 
SCORES BY QUARTER
1st | Texas State 20, Southern Miss 11
2nd | Texas State 41, Southern Miss 33
3rd | Texas State 59, Southern Miss 38
4th | Texas State 85, Southern Miss 57
 
GAME NOTES

• Da'Nasia Hood's five three-pointers made were the most by a Bobcat since Jo'Nah Johnson had five against Coastal Carolina on February 5, 2022.
• The 41 points in the first half were the most for the Bobcats in the opening half of a game since Feb. 2 vs. Troy (43).
• With the win, Texas State tied its program record for wins as a Division I team (23). The overall program record is 27 in 1974-75.
• Texas State is 4-1 all-time in the Sun Belt tournament as a No. 2 seed.
• Texas State's 10 three-pointers made were one short of its season-high.
• The Bobcats' 28-point was the largest in the Sun Belt tournament semifinals since Troy beat UTA, 88-59, in the 2017 semifinals.
• Reed finished 5-of-5 from the field and 6-of-6 at the free throw line.
• Of Hood's 16 rebounds, six were on the offensive end.
• Texas State outrebounded Southern Miss, 36-31.

 
UP NEXT
Texas State will face JMU in Monday's championship game at 1 pm on ESPNU. The Bobcats fell to the Dukes earlier this season, 58-54, in San Marcos on Feb. 16.