Texas State building confidence after first two games

Texas State is counting on its continuity to take the program up a level.

In three seasons, head coach Zenarae Antoine’s 2018 recruiting class of Ja’Kayla Bowie, Da’Nasia Hood, Jaeda Reed and Kennedy Taylor has yet to post a winning percentage above .500 or advance past the second round of the Sun Belt tournament. But the group has stuck together, learned from each grinding season and gotten incrementally better. So have many of the classes that came after it.

Now, in a conference that saw nearly half of its roster spots filled with new faces in the offseason, the Bobcats stand out by having the fewest with just three newcomers and 11 returners.

The players that made up the 2018 freshman class are all seniors now. They went deeper into the league tournament last season than they ever had before, defeating Georgia Southern in the first round and taking conference champion Troy into overtime in a loss.

The way last year ended, combined with a 77-70 loss to the No. 7 Baylor in the 2021-22 season opener and a dominant 82-48 win over Huston Tillotson on Sunday, has the group more confident than ever before.

“We were disappointed with the outcome (of last year's tournament),” Taylor said. “And we know that if we would have pushed maybe one more minute, we could have got that dub. So just using that as motivation going into this next season, we want to start where we left off and just keep going forward.”

Coaches in the Sun Belt have taken notice. They voted Texas State to finish fourth in the league in the 2021-22 Preseason Coaches Poll — the team’s highest ranking since 2018-19. Three Bobcats also received preseason All-Sun Belt recognition, with Hood named to the First Team, Taylor to the Second Team and redshirt junior forward Lauryn Thompson to the Third Team.

Hood will have a real chance to compete for the Sun Belt Player of the Year crown after averaging career highs of 15.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Through two games this season, the forward has already bumped those up to 16.5 points and 7.0 boards. 

Taylor’s appearance on the all-conference list, her first, has been a long time coming. The Bobcats’ point guard routinely finishes in the top three in the league in assists and on Sunday became just the third player in program history to reach 400 career assists.

“I was thinking in my head, I was like, ‘It's about damn time,’” Antoine said. “I mean that, someone recognized what Kennedy does and what she's done over her time periods. Her numbers, regardless of what our record was, were phenomenal considering that we were struggling in certain areas. And so, I'll always say this: Kennedy is the best point guard in the conference. I believed that last year, I believe that this year without even knowing what's out there, just because of the full gamut of what she can do to help influence a team.”

Thompson is an example of how the team’s continuity has helped build depth. Thompson was Texas State’s second-leading scorer and rebounder behind Hood last season but came off the bench in the Bobcats’ first two games this year. Junior forward Chelsea Johnson started at center in the season opener against Baylor and Reed, who missed all of last year with an injury, took the spot against Huston-Tillotson.

All three will play important minutes for the maroon and gold, each capable of scoring on the block and taking some pressure off the perimeter. Texas State won’t be a team afraid to shoot. The Bobcats shot 34 triples against the Bears — the most in a game since the 2018-19 season when former guard and program leader in 3s Toshua Leavitt was still around.

Hood’s always been considered a stretch 4, and graduate forward Gabby Standifer is able to do the same when Hood rests. Taylor improved dramatically as a shooter last year, draining treys at a .376% clip. Bowie showed major scoring potential at the Sun Belt tournament, closing the year out with 19 points against Georgia Southern and 23 points against Troy.

Graduate guard Jo’Nah Johnson has taken the second-most triples so far this season, making 3-of-12. Johnson transferred in from Texas Tech and has taken over the second guard role alongside Taylor. Antoine is hoping she’ll alleviate some of the ball-handling duties Taylor’s shouldered over the past two seasons. Sierra Dickson and Presley Bennett also figure to see more minutes in their sophomore year.

The Bobcats’ season continues on Thursday at 7 p.m. with an I-35 rivalry game at UTSA. They’re ready to prove how much they’ve grown by sticking with the program.

“I think continuity in any relationship is really important, right?” Antoine said. “Whether you talk about your personal relationships, you talk about coaching relationships, continuity provides some level of stability. So stability then provides opportunities for others as well as knowledge of, you know, everyone gets along. And so for us, I don't necessarily think it's an advantage, but that's just where we are, right? And we'll utilize that to our advantage just because these players really do care.”