Women’s basketball team rises in Sun Belt
The Texas State women’s basketball team won its fourth straight game 92-50 at home over Appalachian State, moving the Bobcats into second place in the Sun Belt standings.
Four of Texas State’s five starters scored in double figures, with junior guard Toshua Leavitt leading the way with 19. Senior guard Taeler Deer had 16, and senior forwards Ti’Aira Pitts had 15 and Ericka May 16.
Texas State improved to 16-7 overall, 9-3 in the Sun Belt.
Pitts, who’s averaging 7.0 points this season, has averaged 14.2 points in the fourgame winning streak. She has reached double figures in each game, scoring 16 against Coastal Carolina and 13 against both Georgia State and Georgia Southern.
Pitts “has put together a string of good games recently,” Bobcats coach Zenarae Antoine said. “The other piece of that is, because people are so focused on (Brooke Holle’s) ability to score, and obviously Toshua Leavitt’s ability to score, it has opened up lanes for (May) to drive and get layups. Regardless of who was guarding (May), she was able to get in the paint.”
Texas State is on the road this weekend, playing UT-Arlington (13-10, 7-5) on Saturday.
Men’s losing skid: While the women’s team has been thriving recently, the men’s team has lost four of the past five games, including the past three in a row.
Each of those three losses was by four points or fewer, including the most recent one to Appalachian State 59-56 last Saturday.
“Very disappointing loss; now that’s three in a row,” head coach Danny Kaspar said after the loss to the Mountaineers. “Like I told the players, the tide has turned. We won a bunch of close games, and now we’ve lost some.
“I’m not saying the kids aren’t playing hard — not saying that at all — but they just aren’t finishing. We’ve got to do that. Somebody has got to step up.”
The Bobcats will play at UT-Arlington on Saturday.
Local walk-ons: Seven players agreed to join the football team as preferred walk-ons after the Bobcats signed 23 players to scholarships for the 2018 class. Four of those walk-ons are Austin-area athletes: Lake Travis defensive end Kade Langston and receiver Alec Fuentes, McCallum linebacker Jackson Masters and Hays running back Cade Powell.
“Coach (Everett) Withers is an awesome guy,” Langston told KTBC-TV on national signing day. “He really puts an emphasis on the fact that he cares about his players . ... Texas State has always been a dream school for me to play football at.”
The other three preferred walk-ons are Kerrville Tivy safety Trent Mott, who transferred from Lake Travis after his sophomore season; Lake Ridge safety Trejon Hugue; and San Benito offensive lineman Hector De Jesus.