Three Players Lead Bobcats Past Georgia State

Texas State continues its Peach State road trip at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday at Georgia Southern.

ATLANTA – Toshua Leavitt knocked down five first-half 3-points, Taeler Deer scored 15 and Kaitlin Walla added 13 to lead Texas State to a 62-51 win over Georgia State at the Panther’s GSU Sports Arena Thursday evening in Sun Belt women’s basketball action.

Texas State, winners of eight of its last nine games, improve to 14-10 overall and 9-4 in Sun Belt play. Georgia State falls to 10-15 (6-8 Sun Belt) with the loss.

Leavitt, who finished the game 5 of 8, went a perfect 5 of 5 from deep in the first quarter for her 15 points.

Taeler Deer scored her 15 points on 5 of 9 shooting, including 2 of 4 from three, and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line. Walla was 6 of 8 from the floor and 1 of 2 from three. Overall, the Bobcats shot 51.1 percent (23 of 45) from the field, including 8 of 17 from three.

Texas State’s Sun Belt-leading defense did not allow a Panther in double-figures as Astaja Tyghter led the GSU offense with nine.

The Panthers, which outrebounded TXST 30-25, shot 39.6 percent overall (19 of 48), but turned the ball over 21 times, which lead to 23 Bobcat points.  

Texas State led 20-8 after the first quarter, putting together a 13-0 run over the final 3:47 of the period.

Georgia State led 8-7 until Deer knocked down a mid-range jumper and Leavitt followed with the game’s next nine points via a trio of 3-pointer.

Walla capped the quarter’s scoring with a driving layup, giving TXST the 12-point advantage.

Walla scored 45 seconds into the second quarter for a 22-8 Bobcat lead, but neither team would score again until Haley Gerrin scored inside for the Panther at the 4:43 mark. 

The score, which was the Panthers’ first since the 4:24 mark of the opening quarter, was answered immediately by Walla and followed a possession later by Leavitt’s fifth triple of the game.

Georgia State went on to outscore Texas State 8-2 over the final 2:50 of the quarter, cutting the Bobcats’ lead to 29-18 at the intermission.

 Scoring picked up in the third quarter with Texas State outscoring its hosts 19-12. The Bobcats shot 53.8 percent in the quarter, knocking down 7 of their 13 attempts, including two threes by Deer and one by Walla.

Georgia State started the quarter making five of its first six shots but misses on its final three attempts along with five turnovers allowed the Bobcats to stretch their lead to a game-high 18 points at 48-30.

Georgia State scored six straight to start the fourth quarter, cutting the Texas State lead 10 48-36 and forcing Bobcat timeout.

Alaysia Mitchell and Jaylyn Harrison continued the Panthers’ momentum out of the timeout, scoring on jumper to cut the Texas State lead to single-digits at 48-40.

The Bobcats’ Amber Jones then scored in the paint but was quickly answered by a Williams 3-pointer, bringing the Panthers’ deficit to 50-43.

After trading buckets, the Bobcats led 54-46 when Ericka May stole the ball at the right wing and raced down the court for a fast-break layup.

Kiani Lurry shot and made the ensuing free throw, pushing the Bobcats’ back out front by double-digits at 57-46 with 2:40 to play. The Bobcats made five at the line down the stretch, secure their fourth conference road win of the season.