Texas State notebook: Women's basketball is WNIT-bound for first time since 2018
SAN MARCOS — Texas State's women’s basketball team may have come up short in the Sun Belt championship game Monday, falling 81-51 to James Madison, but the season isn't over for the Bobcats.
As conference champions, James Madison will head to the NCAA Tournament, but Texas State (23-9) will receive an automatic berth to the Women's NIT as the highest-finishing team in the regular standings that didn't win the championship. Texas State was the No. 2 seed and the Bobcats knocked out third-seeded Southern Miss in the tournament semifinals.
Texas State hasn't played in the WNIT since 2018, when the Bobcats lost in the first round to New Mexico. The WNIT starts March 15.
Da’Nasia Hood and Taelour Pruitt were named to the Sun Belt's all-tournament team; Hood averaged 21.7 points and nine rebounds in the three games, including a 30-point effort against Southern Miss, and Pruitt averaged 10.3 points off the bench. Hood also earned first-team all-conference honors that were announced before the tournament. Zenarae Antoine was named the Sun Belt's coach of the year. In her 12th season, Antoine led Texas State to its first Sun Belt regular-season championship and became the program's winningest coach this season (187-176).
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Men’s basketball: Texas State’s season and surprise run in the Sun Belt Tournament came to an end in the semifinals; the 11th-seeded Bobcats had rattled off three wins.
The Bobcats (16-19) opened the tournament with an 81-76 victory over 14th-seeded Georgia State, then registered back-to-back upset wins — a 65-36 win over sixth-seeded Old Dominion and a 71-68 win over third-seeded Marshall in the quarterfinals. Texas State lost 64-58 in the semifinals to Louisiana; the Ragin' Cajuns went on to beat South Alabama in the championship game.
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Softball: The Bobcats (16-5) went 4-1 in the Owl Classic in Boca Raton last weekend, losing the first game before winning four straight. After an 8-4 loss to Winthrop last Thursday, the Bobcats beat host Florida Atlantic 2-0 that same day, then Penn 9-0 on Friday, then llinois State 3-1. Texas State then avenged the opening loss to Winthrop with 5-0 win in the finale Saturday.
The Bobcats will play in the Bevo Classic in Austin this weekend, starting with Wisconsin on Friday.
Baseball: Texas State (7-4) lost a second straight weekend series after dropping two games at Grand Canyon. The Bobcats lost the first game 8-5 before bouncing back 3-0 on Saturday. Grand Canyon took Sunday's rubber match 11-0. The Bobcats are home this week, hosting UTSA on Tuesday before a three-game series against North Dakota State this weekend.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas State women's basketball earns bid to first WNIT since 2018
