Box Score LAS VEGAS - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team fell to the UNLV Lady Rebels, 77-65, at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas Friday evening.
The Islanders (0-1) trailed by as many as 22 points in the first half, but came out fast in the second half, scoring the first five points, to cut the lead to 13. It was a back-and-forth battle from the 10-minute mark until the final whistle, though the Islanders were not able cut the lead to less than 10 points.
"We were in awe of the moment -- playing in the arena with new starters, we just didn't respond very well," said head coach Royce Chadwick. "I thought they were extremely physical with us and we backed down and didn't defend them the way we wanted.
"We went in at halftime and made the adjustments we thought we needed and I thought we came out and were a lot more physical," Chadwick continued. "We executed much better and we were able to attack. We showed a lot of toughness but we just weren't able to get over the hump."
Seven new faces made their Islanders debut in the loss. Redshirt senior Olivia Fouty showed her experience throughout the game, willing her teammates to close the gap. The Toledo, Ohio native recorded her first double-double of the year with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting to go along with 14 rebounds.
"Olivia does things that you don't read in the stats. When you have one senior on your team, that girl is looked to lead with her voice, he play and her emotion," Chadwick noted. "I thought she did a really good job to help our team respond the way it did."
Junior transfer Shay Weaver showed her game-time experience as she put her offensive abilities on display early in the second half to help ignite the Islanders offense which shot a dismal 8-of-28 (28.6) in the first half. Weaver scored the first three-pointer of the game one minute
into the second half. The Arlington, Texas native went on to score 14 second half points to finish the game with a team-high 20 on the night.
One player that didn't show up in the boxscore, but made a great impact in the game was Doshi Davis. The junior played a career-high 11 minutes on the night and played stellar defense during the Islanders run to cut the lead to 10 points.
A&M-Corpus Christi was able to get to the free-throw line against the Lady Rebels (1-0), shooting 29 on the night, capitalizing on 20 of them. The Islanders outscored the Lady Rebels 28-21 in the paint and collected 17 offensive rebounds to help them to 11 second-chance points.
The Islanders will open its regular season home slate on Friday, Nov. 21 as they play host to the University of Houston at the Dugan Wellness Center at 7 p.m. For season tickets call 825-BALL (2255) or visit GoIslanders.com.
For the latest team information, like the team on Facebook (Islanders Women's Basketball), and follow the Islanders on Twitter and Instagram (@IslandersWBB).
