Walla Leads Four In Double-Figures As Bobcats Clip Chanticleers

The Chanticleers chipped away at Texas State’s 15-point halftime lead throughout the third quarter. Coastal thrice cut the lead to less than 10 points, but each time the Bobcats answered back with a bucket on the other end.

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Fueled by Kaitlin Walla’s season-high 17 points along with three additional double-figure scorers Texas State defeated Coastal Carolina 83-62 in women’s basketball action Thursday evening inside Strahan Coliseum. The game was the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams.

Joining Walla in double-figures were Toshua Leavitt, McKinley Bostad and Ti’Aira Pitts with 14, 14 and 10 points respectively. In all the Bobcats (6-6, 1-0 Sun Belt) shot 54.5 percent (30 of 55) from the field, marking the second straight game of better than 50 percent shooting. Moreover, Texas State produced the statistic of the game by outscoring the Chanticleers 50-3 off the bench.

The Chanticleers (5-6, 0-1 Sun Belt) were paced by Ced Gibson’s 22 points, while DJ Williams poured in a career-high 17. Coastal shot 36.5 percent (23 of 63) for the game, but did hold a 40-36 edge in rebounding.

Coastal took a quick lead 5-4 lead in the opening moments of the first, but Texas State responded with a 13-2 run, which including six at the free-throw line, to establish a double-digit lead at 17-7. The Bobcats scored five more on a Leavitt triple and Erin Peoples layup to close the quarter with a 22-15 lead.

The Bobcats led 27-21 in the second quarter before creating separation on the scoreboard with an 11-0 run. Pitts started the run with a basket inside at the 5:10 mark, Walla followed with a floater, Deer connected from long range and Amber Jones closed the run with back-to-back jumpers to give the Bobcats a 37-21 advantage. CCU outscored TXST 7-5 over the final 1:59, sending the teams into the locker rooms with the Bobcats holding a 43-28 lead.

Texas State shot 57.7 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, while also turning nine Chanticleer turnovers into 13 points.

The Chanticleers chipped away at Texas State’s 15-point halftime lead throughout the third quarter. Coastal thrice cut the lead to less than 10 points, but each time the Bobcats answered back with a bucket on the other end. Leading 55-47 after two Chanticleer free throws, Walla made her second three of the game to push Texas State back to an 11-point lead.

After CCU again brought the Texas State lead under double-figure with the final shot of the third quarter, Leavitt restored the 11-point advantage with a triple 21 seconds into the fourth period. After a quick 4-0 burst by the visitors, Leavitt connected on back-to-back 3-pointers and Bostad added another three to push TXST in front 70-53 with 6:41 to go. Coastal got no closer than 16 the rest of the way as the Bobcats improved to 4-0 in Sun Belt openers.

Up Next

• Texas State continues its Sun Belt opening home stand on Saturday (Dec. 31), hosting Appalachian State at 2:00 p.m. The Bobcats and Mountaineers have splits the series’ four meetings with each winning games on its homes floor.

Sun Belt Conference Championship

• The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy.  New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from the Texas State ticket office.  For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference’s championship central websites – Men’s Championship – Women’s Championship – and be sure to follow the @FunBelt on social media – @SunBelt.