Box Score CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team could not overcome 25 turnovers in a 51-43 loss to Texas Southern on Saturday in Houston.
Brittany Mbamalu connected on three second-half 3-pointers to lead the way offensively with 11 points.
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"We had way too many turnovers and too few assists," head coach Royce Chadwick said after the game. "Their system gave us many opportunities to score in one-on-one situations, but we weren't aggressive enough until the final four minutes of the game, when we really took it at them.
"Our senior leaders made some mistakes early and got their heads down. They didn't continue to fight, so we put in the young ones to get us through the tough times. They made some mistakes down the stretch when the game got tight. We didn't play good enough to win, and hats off to Texas Southern."
Offensively in the first half, the Islanders committed 16 turnovers. The Tigers would go on a 9-0 run that held the Islanders scoreless for 7:50 between the first and second quarters, but jumpers from Shola Adebayo and free throws from Gee Lawler cut the lead to three late in the second quarter.
Jennifer Ramirez picked up her third and fourth fouls on consecutive offensive possessions, which paved the way for Mykayla Flores to play 19 minutes and finish with two points and an assist.
Lawler made her first appearance since sustaining an injury against Cal Poly on Nov. 13. Lawler led the Islanders in scoring with seven points through most of the game, before Mbamalu when on a streak. The senior scored seven points, grabbed two rebounds and recorded three steals in 19 minutes of work.
A full-court press by the blue and green created steals and set up 3-pointers by Mbamalu, which brought the Islanders within seven points with 1:26 left in the fourth quarter.
For the second consecutive game, the Islanders were outrebounded 35-25 by the Tigers, after Houston edged A&M-Corpus Christi 31-26 on the boards on Thursday.
The lack of assists that Chadwick refered to amounted in three for the entire game.
Coach Chadwick's squad will be off until Dec. 29, when the Islanders head to New York City for the Fordham Holiday Classic, starting with a game against the hosts, before playing either Vanderbilt or New Mexico State on Dec. 30.
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