Gainesville, Fla. - The Texas A&M - Corpus
Christi women's basketball team came up short against the Alabama
State Hornets on Tuesday afternoon with a 61-55 loss at the Gator
Holiday Classic.
The Islanders fall to 0-10 on the year and
will travel to the Lady Griz Holiday Classic in Missoula, Mont.
next week to play North Dakota and Utah Valley. The Hornets improved to 3-7 on the
season.
Lauren
Smith and Adrienne
Scott tied for the team lead in scoring with 16 points apiece
while Zoey
Vega-Vega had a team-high 10 rebounds for her second
double-digit rebounding game of the season.
The Islanders opened the scoring in the first
half on a Smith layup 50 second into the contest. The two teams battled back-and-forth
with neither able to take more than a seven-point advantage. ASU led 22-15 at the 6:28 mark
before Texas A&M - Corpus Christi rallied to take the halftime
lead. Ashley
Darley hit a jumper to cut it to five and Smith followed with a
three pointer to make it 22-20 with 5:21 left. After the lead was pushed back to
four, Darley made another jumper and then hit 1-of-2 free throws to
cut the deficit to a single point at 24-23. After falling behind by four, a layup
by smith and a pair of free throws by Darley knotted the score at
29-29 with 1:16 left in the half. Jessica
Jammer made a free throw with 14 seconds left to give the
Islanders a 30-29 lead heading into the break.
In the second half, Texas A&M - Corpus
Christi scored the first four points on baskets from Darley and
Jammer to extend the lead to 34-29 after four minutes of play. They were able to hold the
Hornets to just one bucket in the first seven minutes of the period
in building a seven-point lead. ASU scored eight consecutive points
to take a one-point lead with 10:28 left to play. Jade
Davis tied the score at 39-39 at the 10:17 mark before another
Hornet jumper gave them a two-point lead. Scott tied the score at 41-41, but
the Hornets made another run to put the game away. Texas A&M- Corpus Christi was
unable to find an answer to stopping Tanika Jackson as she reeled
off 22 points in the second half.
Darley added 11 points as the only other
player in double figures for the Islanders. Smith added seven rebounds while
Scott had six boards on the afternoon.
Next up for Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
will be a matchup against North Dakota on Dec. 28 in Missoula,
Mont. at the Lady Griz Holiday Classic. They will play Utah Valley on Dec. 29
to finish play until after the start of the New Year.
