January 25, 2012

Islanders, Bobcats Meet in San Marcos on Wednesday

Final	1	2	T
Islanders (6-13, 2-4 SLC)	27	40	67
Texas State (11-7, 3-2 SLC)	39	34	73
San Marcos, Texas (Strahan Coliseum)

Islanders	Texas State
Pts: Myeisha Myles - 17	Pts: Ford, Diamond - 22
Reb: Myeisha Myles - 11	Reb: Ezeh, Ashley - 13
Ast: Verne'Qua Taylor - 5	Ast: Johnson, India - 3

Team Statistics	Islanders	Texas State
Field Goal %	37.3% (25-67 )	36.7% (22-60 )
Rebounds	45	42
Assists	12	13
Turnovers	18	18
Pts off Turnovers	23	18
2nd Chance Pts	12	11
Pts in the Paint	36	32
Fastbreak Pts	6	7
Bench Pts	20	13

full stats

TEXAS A&M - CORPUS CHRISTI (6-12, 2-3 SOUTHLAND) AT TEXAS STATE (10-7, 2-2)

Wednesday, Jan. 25 • 7 p.m. CST
Strahan Coliseum (7,200) • San Marcos, Texas
LIVE STATS | RADIO

Game Notes

CORPUS CHRISTI – The Texas A&M - Corpus Christi women's basketball team hits the road this week for their next two Southland Conference games. The Islanders will take on Texas State on Wednesday in San Marcos before traveling to Stephen F. Austin on Saturday. The Islanders are 1-1 on the road in conference play and 3-5 overall away from the Coastal Bend.

Alisa Roberts, Myeisha Myles and Verne'qua Taylor paced the Islanders in double-figure scoring on Saturday at the Dugan Wellness Center. The Islanders dropped their third conference game of the season and second at the Dugan, falling to Sam Houston State 65-56.

The Islanders sit at 6-12 overall and 2-3 in the conference. The last time the Islanders hit the road, they garnered a 61-51 victory over UT Arlington, to seal their first conference road victory of the season.

The Bobcats come into the contest with a 10-7 record and are 7-2 at home including a 2-0 home mark in the conference. Texas State has been selected to finish fifth in the Southland Conference West Division after finishing with a record of 9-20 last season and 6-10 (10th) in the SLC. Wednesday's game will mark the 15th meeting between the two schools with the Bobcats holding a 5-9 advantage, including notching the last two games.

QUICK HITS

• The Islanders clinched their first conference road win of the season Wednesday against UT Arlington.

• Alisa Roberts, Myeisha Myles and Verne'qua Taylor led the Islanders in double-figure scoring against Sam Houston State. The Islanders are 5-3 when at least three players have scored in double-digits.

• The Islanders matched a season-high 15 steals against UT Arlington. This season the Islanders are 3-2 when having more steals than their opponents.

• Texas A&M - Corpus Christi has tallied 17 assists or more in four games this season. Junior Verne'qua Taylor has tallied six or more assists in seven games this season and in four of those she had eight or more.

• The Islanders shot 80 percent (16-20) from the free throw line against Sam Houston State.

• Head Coach Robert Robinson has used six different starting lineups this season.

• The Islanders face Texas State and Stephen F. Austin this week on the road.

LAST TIME OUT

Texas A&M - Corpus Christi cut the lead to five with 36.8 seconds left, but it wasn't enough as the Sam Houston State Bearkats garnered a 65-56 road victory at the Dugan Wellness Center. The Islanders were paced by three players in double-figure scoring efforts. The Islanders shot 32.1 percent from the field to the Bearkats 32.2 percent and shot 80 percent (16-20) from the charity stripe. The Islanders bench outscored Sam Houston's bench 22-13.

Junior Alisa Roberts tallied her third double-figure scoring game with a career-high 18 points and Myeisha Myles and Verne'qua Taylor each added 11 points. Sam Houston State was also paced by three players in double-digit scoring. Britni Martin paced the Bearkats with 22 points, Sequeena Thomas added 15 and Jasmine Johnson chipped in 11.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS

Texas State heads into the game with a 10-7 overall record, 2-2 in conference play and sits at 7-2 at home. The Bobcats dropped their second conference game on the road on Wednesday at UTSA. Prior to that Texas State fell to undefeated McNeese State on the road.

Texas State has sealed conference wins at home against Northwestern State and Sam Houston State.

On the season, Texas State averages 67.2 points, shoots .384 from the floor (416-of-1083), .289 percent (112-of-387) from three-point range and .650 (199-of-306) from the line.

Individually, the Bobcats are led by Diamond Ford with 17.4 points per game. Ashley Ezeh is second on the team with 13.7 points per game and leads the team with 8.1 rebounds per game.

ALL-TIME SERIES

Wednesday's game will mark the 15th meeting between the two schools with the Bobcats claiming the 5-9 advantage. The Bobcats have won the past two meetings, with the Islanders notching both wins during the 2009-10 season.

The last time the two teams met up was in San Marcos on Feb. 16, 2011. The Bobcats sealed an 81-77 victory. Texas State also notched a 78-76 victory on Jan. 26, 2011 in Corpus Christi.

BENCH WORK

This season the Islanders have depth on their roster, something they have lacked in the past. This season, the Islanders bench has outscored their opponents' bench 385-345. On Saturday, The Islanders scored 22 points to Sam Houston State's 13. Alisa Roberts led the Islanders off the bench with a career-high 18 points. Roberts leads the bench with 7.2 points per game and sophomore Marquesha Anderson-Sparks is second with 7.0 points per game.

REBOUNDING MACHINE

The Islanders are leading the conference with 28.7 defensive rebounds a game and are fifth in offensive rebounds with 15.2.

Myeisha Myles is leading the team on the glass with 6.9 rebounds per game, which is good for 11th place in the conference. Myles has 4.2 defensive rebounds (15th, SLC) and 2.8 offensive rebounds (9th, SLC) while Damequia Montgomery is in 14th place in the conference with 2.6 offensive rebounds.

The Islanders have been a force on the defensive end, tallying 517 rebounds to their opponent's 511. Jammer and Myles have combined for a total of 140 defensive rebounds.

DOUBLE BLOCK

The Islanders sit in fifth-place in the conference with 3.3 blocks per game. Myeisha Myles and Jessica Jammer are two of the top shot blockers in the league. Myles leads the way in ninth with 0.9 and Jammer is in 10th with 0.9 a game.

LINEUP CHECK

Coach Robinson has used six different lineups this season. Myeisha Myles and Verne'qua Taylor are the only two Islanders to have started all 18 games. Nine of the 12 players have made their way into the starting lineup. The most times one set lineup has been used is five games.

BALANCED ATTACK

This season the Islanders seem to perform better when at least three players have scored double-digit points rather than two. The Islanders are 5-3 when at least three players have scored and 0-5 when at least two have posted double-digit scoring efforts.

Roberts, Myles and Taylor led the Islanders in double-figure scoring against Sam Houston State. Roberts tallied 18, while Myles and Taylor each added 11.

Myles leads the Islanders with nine double-figure scoring games, Jammer has seven and Anderson-Sparks has tallied six. Jammer, Myles and Vega-Vega also have two double-doubles apiece this season.

TALE OF NENE

Verne'qua "Nene" Taylor leads the team at the point guard position and has no problem sharing the ball. The junior is leading the conference with an average of 4.5 assists a game with a total of 81 assists in 18 games in a team-high 30.4 minutes per game.

Taylor registered her fifth double-figure scoring game with 11 points against Sam Houston State. Against SMU, the Wharton, Texas native, posted a season-high 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting and dished out eight assists while jumpstarting the Islanders scoring in the second half. Taylor dished eight assists against UT Arlington for the second straight game. She also tallied eight points and a season-high five steals in 40 minutes.

She is averaging 6.3 points per game, 4.1 rebounds and is second on the team in steals with 26. Taylor along with Myles are the only two Islanders to have started all 18 games.

PHILLY TOUGHNESS

Alisa Roberts brings a Philly toughness to the Islanders. The junior came off the bench against Sam Houston State and registered a career-high 18 points against Sam Houston State. She also went 7-of-8 from behind the charity stripe and triggered a career-high three 3-pointers.

Against UT Arlington, Roberts was one point shy of her first double-double of the season. She tallied nine points and career-high 12 rebounds and collected two assists and two steals in 24 minutes. In the Islanders home game against Jackson State, Roberts helped seal the Islanders victory by knocking down a free throw in the final seconds.

Roberts is third on the team in scoring with an average of 7.2 points and leads the Islanders bench in points. She also leads the team with 28 steals in 17.8 minutes per game. She is third in assists with 19.

PRESEASON PICKS

The Islanders were picked to finish last in the Southland West Division after finishing last in the conference last season.

UP NEXT

The Islanders will remain on the road on Saturday, Jan. 28, when they travel to Nacogdoches to take on Stephen F. Austin. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m.