Bobcats eviscerate Eagles, advance in Sun Belt tournament

No. 4 West Division seed Texas State knew it was going to have to box out against No. 5 East seed Georgia Southern. The Eagles entered Friday’s first-round matchup against the Bobcats as the No. 7 rebounding team in the nation, averaging 45.61 per game.

But Ja’Kayla Bowie just wasn’t cutting it.

“Dang, slacker,” head coach Zenarae Antoine told the junior guard after the game. “You had zero offensive rebounds.”

Bowie replied that there just weren’t that many rebounds to be had. The maroon and gold shot 32-59 from the field and 21-24 from the free throw line to take a 94-61 win over Georgia Southern and advance to the second round of the Sun Belt tournament in Pensacola, Fla. The team’s 94 points were the most in a conference game in program history — regardless of the conference.

“You’re right,” Antoine said laughing. “You’re right, you’re right.”

Bowie was a major factor. The Tyler native dropped a career-high 19 points, pushing Texas State to its highest scoring total of the season.

She scored the first points of the game for the Bobcats by darting her way into the paint and finishing on the left side of the rim. Georgia Southern (11-13, 5-9 Sun Belt) tied it up at 4-4, but three free throws from graduate forward Gabby Standifer pushed Texas State ahead, where it remained the rest of the game.

The Eagles scored a jumper with 5:10 remaining in the quarter, but wouldn’t score again until the last five seconds of the period. The Bobcats forced six turnovers during the stretch, sparking a 14-0 run.

“We mixed it up (on defense),” Antoine said. “Since we don't play each other, it makes it really difficult to understand what you might be facing when you step into this arena. And your mindset might be one of a previous year or certain personnel. And so the way we play defensively, at times, can be tough for certain teams or certain personnel to understand how they're going to get their looks until they actually face it in-game. And so, I really appreciate how well our guards did as far as getting it started for us defensively.”

Bowie scored another six points during the run to give her eight by the end of the quarter — the same amount Georgia Southern had as a team trailing 21-8. The maroon and gold kept it going in the second frame, forcing another seven turnovers, scoring 18 points off of them and holding the Eagles to nine points in the quarter.

By halftime, Texas State held a 50-17 lead, led by Bowie, who had matched her previous career high with 14 points.

“She really got after for us defensively. She's one of those players at the top, you know, she would get a steal, push the ball down the floor, she had plenty of opportunities on the baseline rotation to drive and get to her layup,” Antoine said. “She laid everything out there for the team and she took advantage of the opportunity she had. And I'm really proud of Ja'Kayla. She's just grown leaps and bounds. You know, to me, she is the most improved player of this season by far.”

Ja'Kayla Bowie for 3⃣, she's got 19 now @smdrsports pic.twitter.com/iDP7meX1lO

— Drew King (@drewking0222) March 5, 2021

The Bobcats cruised through the second half with the win in hand. Antoine unloaded the bench in the fourth quarter, allowing her younger players to get experience playing in a tournament setting. The team gave up a 20-4 run to end the game and still won by 33 points, finishing the contest at 94-61.

Bowie’s 19 points tied with junior forward Da’Nasia Hood for the team lead. They were followed by redshirt sophomore forward Lauryn Thompson with 14 and junior guard Kennedy Taylor with 11. Six different players registered an assist, led by senior guard Avionne Alexander with a career-best eight to go along with four steals.

Texas State (11-10, 7-8) is set to play No. 1 East seed Troy (19-5, 15-2) in the second round of the tournament Saturday at 11 a.m. Antoine said heading into Friday’s game she saw a lot of similarities between the Eagles and Trojans. But she considers Troy a suped-up version of Georgia Southern.

For instance, Troy is the No. 1 rebounding team in the country, averaging 51.92 boards per game.

“When I say 'suped-up,' I mean they're just a team who is on another level as far as their depth and consistency that they have with what they do well,” Antoine said. “And that is rebound, press and get out and run.”