Bobcats Earn Tough Road Win Against Islanders

By Alex Gibbs
Assistant Sports Director

After suffering a tough 81-64 loss at home to Oral Roberts last Saturday, the Texas State women’s basketball team (3-3) bounced back in a hard-fought 60-53 road-win over the Texas A&M – Corpus Christi Islanders (2-2) on Monday night at the Dugan Wellness Center. The game certainly wasn’t an easy one for either team as a total of 47 fouls were called.

Junior guard, Brooke Holle, was the leading scorer as she scored 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the three while also making all four of her free throw attempts. She also had a good night on the boards, tallying up seven rebounds. This was the first game that Holle led the team in scoring.

But Holle wasn’t alone offensively, as Senior guard, Toshua Leavitt, secured her 13th straight double-figure scoring game with 11 points. While she did struggle for most of the game, hitting only 3-of-10 shots, she did score the final four points which sealed the win. Sophomore forward, Jayla Johnson, also helped out offensively as she earned 10 points with seven rebounds.

For the Islanders, Senior guard Tasia Foman scored a game-high 22 points with 12 of those coming on a 5-for-5 shooting performance in the first half. Junior forward Alexis Bryant also made things difficult for the ‘Cats as she added 18 points and five rebounds for the Islanders.

At halftime, the Bobcats found themselves losing by one (27-26) for the fifth time this season. As if things couldn’t be more frustrating, Head Coach Zenarae Antoine had to turn to her bench early and often as she played 10 Bobcats because of foul trouble. Six Bobcats went into halftime with at least two fouls each.

The maroon and gold responded very well by the third quarter as they forced the Islanders to take several tough shots. It paid off as A&M only shot 2-of-12 from the floor that quarter. The Bobcats would then take off as they outscored the Islanders 16-9 and taking a six-point lead going into the final quarter.

Down the stretch, multiple ‘Cats were able to come up huge offensively. With 7:20 remaining, Junior guard Bailey Holle drove to the left side of the lane and forced her way to the rim with a layup and a foul. The extra point put the Bobcats up 44-38. Later on with 6:00 to go, Junior forward Jazza Johns extended the lead to nine with a hoop and-one. Unfortunately, the Islanders kept crawling their way back with rally after rally. Eventually, Leavitt silenced the crowd with a clutch 12-foot floater as time expired on the shot clock with 23 seconds left in the entire game. She would later step to the free-throw line and knock two down to secure the victory.

The road trip continues for the Bobcats this Friday as they’ll head to Stillwater, Oklahoma to face the Oklahoma State Cowgirls.

Featured Photo by Justin Manor.