Texas State splits weekend series with Louisiana in Sun Belt opener

Lauryn Thompson was upset as she joined Texas State’s huddle during a timeout. She wasn’t getting enough touches.

“You’re not gonna get the ball every time,” head coach Zenarae Antoine told her.

“Why not?” Thompson replied.

The redshirt sophomore forward had a point. Louisiana, taking on the Bobcats inside Strahan Arena on Friday, wasn’t doing much to stop her. She seemingly earned a bucket or a trip to the free throw line every time her teammates dumped the ball into the post to her. The only thing holding her back was more entry passes.

Thompson had seen her production steadily rise in Texas State’s two final non-conference games, posting 12 points and 12 rebounds against Texas A&M Corpus-Christi on Dec. 16 and 16 points and nine rebounds against Lamar on Dec. 19. But Friday’s contest proved to be a true breakout performance for her as she led the team in scoring with 25 points, shooting 9-13 from the field and 7-7 from the line, and snagged eight rebounds

“I look at Lauryn, as a coach and someone that mentors her, as a young woman who is coming into her own, meaning this: she didn't have the opportunity to play when she was at VCU and she transferred,” Antoine said. “So that's a young woman who truly hasn't seen game minutes, so in some ways, there's things about her that are very freshman-like, things that she has to work through, things that she has to get used to. Not just the teammates piece of it, but the actual game. So every game, what you're seeing from Lauryn is just that maturity.”

Thompson’s performance helped the Bobcats secure a 71-63 win over the Ragin’ Cajuns in the teams’ Sun Belt opener. Junior forward Da’Nasia Hood trailed just Thompson with 23 points and six rebounds while junior guard Kennedy Taylor added another eight points and dished out nine assists.

Texas State seemed to by finding its stride, establishing a three-game winning streak. But the team had to go through a new challenge on Saturday: playing Louisiana again in the second game of a back-to-back as part of the new format of Sun Belt play this year.

Antoine subbed in just four players in Friday’s victory, as her starters played 86% of the Bobcats’ minutes. The head coach went much deeper into the bench on Saturday, bringing in six subs and playing her starters just 68.5% of the time.

The hope was to counteract the fatigue the starters were bound to face playing heavy minutes in a back-to-back. But the players still looked tired, both mentally and physically. 

“I feel it had an impact from the standpoint of decision-making, the mental fatigue piece of it. I think physically speaking, with both teams, was about even from that standpoint,” Antoine said. “That mental fatigue definitely came into play.”

The hosts gave up 22 turnovers, leading to 27 points by the visitors. The Ragin’ Cajuns kept Texas State’s offense stagnant, limiting the high-low looks that helped Thompson and Hood put up big numbers the day before. The Bobcats shot 26.7% from the floor, including a 3-15 mark from deep. The team struggled to make the necessary adjustments, scoring two points in the second quarter — a layup by senior guard Avionne Alexander.

Louisiana (2-5, 1-1 Sun Belt) ran away with the game, handing Texas State (4-3, 1-1) a 67-41 loss. Taylor was the only Bobcat to reach double digits with 10 points. 

Antoine stated that her hope is that she’ll be able to balance her substitutions more between the two games as the season goes on. But very few of her bench players have the requisite in-game experience that she counts on to be used in big moments. So, for now, she intends to not leave anything up to chance in the first leg of the team’s back-to-backs.

“You're not going to try to save yourself for the next day. I really feel that with my particular team right now, I can't be overconfident that way. It's really important that we solidify the first game and so we're going to use all we have in that first game versus holding back because you don't know what each game is going to bring.”

Texas State will head to Arkansas State (4-1, 0-0) next weekend for a two-game series with the Red Wolves, the first game taking place Friday at 6 p.m. and the second on Saturday at 6 p.m.