The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team built a
huge lead and coasted to a 72-62 victory over the McNeese State
Cowgirls on Saturday afternoon at the American Bank Center. The
Islanders led by as many as 27 points in taking their
fifth-straight win on Stripes Court.
TAMUCC sits at 17-8 overall and 9-3 in Southland Conference
games. The nine wins set a new school record for Southland wins in
a season. McNeese falls to 6-19 on the year and 2-10 in Southland
contests.
The two teams played close early on before the Islanders went on
a 12-4 run to end the first half up by a 37-25 score. Shaye
Montgomery started the run by hitting a three pointer to make
it 25-21 with 4:12 left in the period. After a pair of free throws
from the Cowgirls cut the lead back to two points at 3:59, the
Islanders outscored McNeese 8-0 over the next 3:14 to take a
10-point lead. A lay up by Elisa Beagle with five second
left put the lead at 12 points, 37-25, headed into the break.
"The kids played well today, they imposed their will," said head
coach Robert Robinson. "For the
most part we executed the offense flawlessly today."
In the second half, TAMUCC continued to pour it on, stretching
the lead to as many as 27 points before coasting to a 10-point home
win. The Islanders scored the first seven points of the half
before McNeese was able to break through with a lay up to make it a
44-27 score. A good free throw shot by Anitra Jeffery at the 4:23
mark extended the lead to 27 and made it a 66-39 advantage for the
Islanders. The Cowgirls whittled away at the lead late in the game
with the TAMUCC starting lineup out of the game to make it a
respectable 72-62 final.
"Our defense was outstanding, we didn't allow many second chance
opportunities," said Robinson. "We did a pretty good job of
dominating defensively for 35 minutes."
Myeisha Myles was the only
Islander in double digits, scoring 12 points in 18 minutes of
action. Elisa Beagle recorded her
11th double digit rebounding game of the season by pulling down 13
in the contest. Jade Davis and Montgomery
scored nine points apiece as the second-leading scorers in the
game.
"Our offense is designed to get a lot of people involved," said
Robinson. "It makes it tough for a defense to focus on any single
person."
The Islanders hit the road once again on Wednesday when they
play in Hammond, La. at Southeastern Louisiana. Yannis Koutroupis
will call the action on KCCT 1150 AM as TAMUCC looks to pick up
another key Southland win.
