Bobcats still working on defense heading into matchup with Islanders
Zenarae Antoine knew what her team needed to work on.
Claire Lundberg just had a perfect game on Nov. 17. The Montana State senior forward nailed all eight of her shots, half of them coming from deep, and all six of her free throws to thrash the Bobcats for 26 points. Texas State fell to the visiting Bobcats, 67-59, inside Strahan Arena.
Antoine wasn’t mad that Lundberg had a good game. The head coach knew Montana State would lean on the forward on offense. Antoine was upset, though, that Lundberg scored more than her per-game average.
“This cannot continuously happen,” Antoine said after the game. “This now, to me, is a trend that needs to be stopped.”
Texas State was able to do so against UTSA on Tuesday in a 68-60 road win, holding Roadrunner junior forward Marie Benson to 17 points, below her average of 19.5 at the time. But the Bobcats’ 81-64 home loss to Oral Roberts on Saturday proves the team still has a long way to go.
In four of its five games this season, Texas State has allowed the opposing team's leading scorer to surpass her average in points. Benson is the one exception.
Another exception might be redshirt junior forward Aisia Robertson, who picked up 17 points against the Bobcat defense on Nov. 9 in an 82-51 win during the first round of the Preseason Women's National Tournament. Robertson transferred to New Mexico last year and sat out the 2016-17 season. Even so, she only averaged 4.4 points as a sophomore at Kansas.
Antoine said her players need to have more confidence in themselves on both sides of the ball. The Bobcats get bogged down on offense and force a bad shot too often, which leads to easy points in transition for the other team. It’s difficult to stay motivated on defense when you’re can’t seem to find the bottom of the net.
“A bad shot’s just like a turnover,” Antoine said after the Montana State game. “And helping us understand that is going to be important, that once those stops come, and they’re solid stops, then we’re going to have those opportunities.”
It’s still early in the season. The team is still trying to build its chemistry with several newcomers filling out the rotation. There’s still a month to go before Sun Belt play begins.
But it’s still clear to Antoine what the Bobcats need to work on moving forward.
“It’s on the board almost every single game plan, that we have to trust that defensive stops are going to lead to great offensive opportunities,” Antoine said. “And just getting to that point has been something that’s been a little bit tough.”
Texas State (2-3) played Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2-1) on the road on Monday. The match ended after press time.
