Bobcats hold off Coastal Carolina for third-straight win, 64-59

It’s not often that Da’Nasia Hood has a bad shooting night.

The senior forward, who ranks fourth in the Sun Belt averaging 16.7 points per game, shot just 3-for-11 from the field in Texas State’s game against Coastal Carolina on Saturday and finished the day with seven points.

It’s also not often for redshirt junior forward Lauryn Thompson and sophomore Sierra Dickson to struggle right along with Hood, each making a single shot on a combined 18 attempts.

It’s tough for the Bobcats to win when things like that happen. A lot of other things have to go right for them. But the maroon and gold still pulled it off. Senior guards Jo’Nah Johnson and Kennedy Taylor caught fire from the 3-point line and the maroon and gold earned 27 points off the bench to take a 64-59 win over the Chanticleers inside Strahan Arena.

“I'm excited for our team right now and the way we've been playing,” head coach Zenarae Antoine said. “We talked a lot about what we need to do in February. And I'm constantly watching the maturity of this team and I'm constantly challenging the maturity at the same time as well in practice because you cannot relent in February. It's really going to be execution, fighting through fatigue and your ability to understand and adapt quickly in situations because coaches are you able to scout with so much film in front of you.”

One of the ways Texas State (11-11, 6-4 Sun Belt) found better execution was in the turnover margin. Against Dartmouth on Dec. 16, the team gave up 21 turnovers, a season-high at the time. The Bobcats went on to commit 20 or more turnovers in eight of the next 10 games, oftentimes spoiling would-be wins.

Antoine started using an old-school method to motivate her players to take care of the ball in practice. On the sideline of the court, the team loads up five basketballs on the top shelf of a rack. Every time a player commits a turnover during the course of practice, a ball gets removed from the rack. When all five balls are taken off, the players have to run sprints — the more time the rack is cleared, the longer the sprints they have to run.

It’s early on, as Antoine only started implementing the idea two weeks ago, but it appears to be paying off. Texas State only committed 14 turnovers in its win over Arkansas State last weekend. And on Saturday, the Bobcats tied their season-low of 11 turnovers while forcing Coastal Carolina (12-7, 2-6) to commit 20.

“Nobody wants to just keep running for turnovers. Just take care of the ball,” senior guard Ja’Kayla Bowie said. “So I think we do a good job now of just knowing the right reads. I think better chemistry and stuff helped us cut down on turnovers.”

The Chanticleers ran a zone defense for most of the game, but Johnson and Taylor kept finding open pockets to spot up in. Johnson went 5-7 from distance while Taylor knocked down 3-7 from deep, helping the hosts stay in front even as the visitors made multiple comeback attempts in the second half.

Boogie (@JoNahJohnson14) halts a 6-1 run by #CCU, canning her fourth triple of the day @smdrsports pic.twitter.com/BIqiJq9pxL

— Drew King (@drewking0222) February 5, 2022

“I think we did a good job of finding each other,” Taylor said. “Jo'Nah and I are always in the gym. So I think just by, you know, building up that confidence, I think it really helps us out in the game.”

“I’d have to agree,” Johnson said.

Johnson led the team with 15 points, followed by Taylor, who had 12 points and seven assists. 

Though they didn’t have their best night shooting, Hood, Thompson and Dickson still found ways to impact the game. Thompson led the team grabbing 10 rebounds. Hood grabbed seven and blocked a shot. Dickson swiped away four steals, all of them coming in the first half.

Senior and junior forwards Jaeda Reed and Chelsea Johnson, respectively, each played important roles off the bench, too. Reed provided seven points, five boards and a block backing up Hood and Thompson. And Johnson scored a quick five points in her six minutes of playing time.

Big-time board from @jaeda_reed, getting the rebound against 6-foot-5 Janeen Camp. Reed is fouled and goes 1-2 at the line to give #TXST a 62-56 lead with 26.3 seconds to play @smdrsports pic.twitter.com/9dWfucLo2O

— Drew King (@drewking0222) February 5, 2022

“Specifically, I think (Reed's) doing a better job in scouting and recognizing what we need from her when she's in the game,” Antoine said. “And I like that doesn't take plays off. I think that's a maturity level from her now to where if she misses a layup, she's gonna keep playing … And Chelsea is hungry. She wants every opportunity that she has to take advantage of it. So when she's in the game, she does her best and that's all you can ask from your team.”

The Bobcats will look to extend their three-game winning streak next weekend when it hosts Louisiana (13-5, 5-3) on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Louisiana-Monroe (4-18, 0-8) on Saturday at 2 p.m., both games tipping off inside Strahan Arena.