MONROE, La. – In the final two games of the regular season, Texas State women’s basketball (8-10 overall, 5-8 Sun Belt) will look to complete the season sweep of the University of Louisiana at Monroe (3-17 overall, 1-13 Sun Belt) on Feb. 26-27 in Monroe, Louisiana.
Both teams are at the bottom of the Sun Belt Conference in terms of offense. Of the 12 teams in the conference, Texas State ranks 11th in points per game at 58 and ULM, while only one spot behind in 12th, averages almost 10 fewer points at 48.4 per contest.
Junior forward Da’Nasia Hood is the Bobcats’ leading scorer and also the leading scorer in the entire conference at 16.3 points per game. The San Antonio native shoots 40.3% overall from the field, 26% from three and 77% from the line. Hood ranks 10th in the Sun Belt on the boards, pulling down 7.2 per game.
Supporting Hood is junior guard Kennedy Taylor and sophomore forward Lauryn Thompson. Taylor is second in the Sun Belt in assists at 5.5 per game while also scoring 10.2 points. Taylor is third in the conference in steals with 2.1 per game. Thompson is the team’s second-leading rebounder and scorer, averaging 10.8 points and 6.7 rebounds. Thompson is the Sun Belt’s second-leading free-throw shooter at 86.8%.
For ULM, junior guard Kierra Brimzy leads the way with 13.3 points per game on 36.3% shooting from the field and 24.4% from behind the arc. The Warhawks lack significant scoring outside of Brimzy as she is the only player to average double-digit points. ULM’s next leading scorers are senior forward Kierra Crockett and senior guard/forward Whitney Goins at 5.9 apiece. Three other players also average at least five points for ULM.
Defensively, the Bobcats and Warhawks play well as they rank third and sixth respectively. This is partly due to each team’s slow-paced offense which limits the opponent’s scoring opportunities.
Last time out, Texas State split a two-game series against the University of Texas at Arlington, first winning 66-45 on Feb. 12, then losing 51-43 on Feb. 13. The Bobcats were scheduled to play Arkansas State University Feb. 19-20 but both games were canceled due to the winter storm that rocked the state of Texas.
ULM is coming off of its first Sun Belt win of the season, defeating the University of Arkansas at Little Rock 62-44 on Feb. 22. The win ended a 15-game losing streak dating back to Dec. 15.
In the first two meetings between Texas State and the Warhawks, the Bobcats secured back-to-back double-digit victories, winning 74-52 on Jan. 22 and 64-50 on Jan. 23.
