CORPUS CHRISTI - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball dropped a close one to
Oakland University, 61-54, at the American Bank Center Wednesday evening.
Down the stretch, the Islanders traded baskets with the Golden Grizzlies. A&M-Corpus Christi closed the gap to just four points at 58-54 with 2:37 left on a Jennifer Ramirez jumper, but Oakland's Olivia Nash answered quickly as she did all night with a quick jumper on the other end. Nash finished with a game-high 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting.
Oakland (5-4) took 20 shots from behind the arc in the game, but during a 9:23 minute stretch to end the first half and begin the second half, the Golden Grizzlies hit four of their five treys as the team went on a 28-7 run.
Trailing by as many as 16 points, the Islanders (2-7) were able to get back into the game thanks to their gritty play in the paint. Several times throughout the game, shots were put up but corralled by an AMCC player for the easy putback. A&M-Corpus Christi outscored the Golden Grizzlies 36-24 in the paint on the night, to go along with 10 points coming off of offensive rebounds. The team also set a new season-high in blocks, finishing with 10 in the game.
The first half featured six lead changes in a back-and-forth affair. The Golden Grizzlies made a late run to take a 33-26 lead into the locker room. In final minute of the half, Oakland was able to go on a 5-0 run to push its lead to seven. Nash hit a three-pointer while Leah Somerfield drained two free throws with 16 seconds remaining. Nash led Oakland with 15 first half points on 7-of-9 shooting. A&M-Corpus Christi shot 37 percent in the half, its best first half since playing at UT-Pan American.
A&M-Corpus Christi was led by junior Shay Weaver who scored 15 points off the bench. Forward Camesha Davis put in 10 points to go along with a career-high 11 rebounds to record her first double-double of her career. Ramirez, a Bronx, N.Y. native scored a season-high nine points.
The Islanders will wrap up play at the American Bank Center with a matchup with Texas Southern on Saturday at 1 p.m. The team will then take the holidays off before returning to action on Dec. 30 as they play host to Huston-Tillotson.
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