TXST Sweeps Through Georgia State

By Reily Chestnut
Assistant Sports Director

Team success, like a five star meal, leaves you more satisfied the more you taste it. So it only makes sense for Texas State to want more after their blowout win over Georgia Southern Thursday, right? Absolutely, since the Bobcats pounced on Georgia State in the second half and breezed to an 83-63 blowout!

But if you thought that this was the case after halftime then bravo! You can give up your college education and predict the future (ala Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost). But you’d be surprised otherwise since the Bobcats went into the second half down 36-35 after shooting just 41 percent. So if you’re the Panthers and their fans, you’re feeling like a hot shot pulling up to a red light eager to race your new Mustang and challenging the older gent in the 1968 Roadster next to you. You think you’ve got this one in the bag since that car is older than your mother and you start off burning the road and keeping a cool distance. All of a sudden this man shifts his refurbished engine into a six and he turns on the afterburners to blow you out of the water. Well that’s how it looked in the second half for the ‘Cats. To put it down with some numbers, TXST outscored GSU 48-27 after halftime. Good news for Bobcat fans since the team had previously failed to win any prior games this season when trailing after the second quarter.

Now let’s get to the fun stuff…

Senior guard Taeler Deer and junior Toshua Leavitt had a ball over in Atlanta. Leavitt sizzled with 34 points on 10-16 3PT shooting, tying both her career-high in scoring and the 3PT single-game record she set back at Coastal Carolina earlier this year, whom the team happen to be hosting next Thursday in Strahan (time for an encore and some revenge). This three point barrage has moved Leavitt’s season total up to 100 three pointers on 44 percent shooting from downtown, the first in the NCAA to knock down 100 three point bombs! But her incredible performance probably wouldn’t have been possible without some help from backcourt buddy Deer.

Taeler made Bobcat history by passing a school record 14 assists! The previous record was 13 dimes given out back on Jan. 21, 1988 by Rolish Goins. Adding to it, Deer scored 19 points to backup Leavitt with her second straight double-double while moving into second place on the school list for career assists! Add in senior Ti’Aira Pitts scoring 13 points and we’ve got a hard nosed victory by the Bobcats and isn’t all that we can ask for? My answer would be a resounding yes!

Texas State will head back home next week holding the 3rd seed in the SBC well in hand behind South Alabama and Little Rock with a 7-3 conference record. Look for the squad to build on that by hosting Coastal Carolina next Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Strahan Coliseum, a team that the Bobcats have a bone to pick with after getting embarrassed out in Conway, South Carolina. If you can’t make it then catch it on KTSW 89.9!

Featured image by KTSW Multimedia.