Box Score HOUSTON - Shay Weaver's team-high 19 points were not enough for the Islanders women's basketball team as it fell short, 59-
54, at Sharp Gym in Houston Thursday night.
The Islanders (10-11, 6-4 SLC) trailed by 16 points at halftime but were able cut the lead to two points with a minute and 29 seconds remaining. Houston Baptists' Heidi Sihvola drew a foul and connected on both free throws to put HBU up four, but Weaver came right back on the other end, drawing a foul and hitting 1-of 2 from the line. A&M-Corpus Christi got a defensive stop on its next possession but could not get a bucket, therefore sending the Huskies to the line to close the game out.
A major part of the Islanders comeback was their pressure on the defensive end. Sophomore Kassie Jones recorded a career-high eight steals -- all coming in the second half. Jones was able to score six of her nine points in transition, all of which came off of her defensive prowess. The Lufkin, Texas native also assisted on three of the Islanders last four field goals.
"In the second half, we changed our defense up, changed the tempo of the game and we were able to get ourselves back into it," said head coach Royce Chadwick. "We had our chances and we just made errors down the stretch and you can't do that if you're going to win games like that."
The Islanders started the game on fire, leading 12-4, just four minutes in. Weaver connected on the teams first two field goals, while Jennifer Ramirez put in four of her eight points during the stretch.
After the Islanders hot start, the Huskies (9-12, 3-7 SLC) reeled of 15-straight points to go up 19-12 over a period of seven minutes and 25 seconds. During the stretch the Islanders went 0-5 from the field and turned the ball over seven times.
Ramirez broke the scoreless streak for the Islanders at the free-throw line, connecting on both her attempts. The Islanders went to the locker room trailing the Huskies 34-18. Ramirez scored a team-high six points in the first half, with Ashanti Plummer and Weaver adding four.
"I thought we started the game the right way coming out in the first couple minutes but we just went into a lull and stopped being aggressive and stopped taking the ball to the rim and that is so uncharacteristic of us," Chadwick said.
The Islanders were out-rebounded for just the third time this season. HBU was able to corral 38 total rebounds on the night, including 16 on the offensive end, while the Islanders were held to 26 rebounds and just seven on the offensive glass. HBU's rebounding advantage led to 16 second-chance points.
"We needed to pick up our aggression -- We are a good offensive rebounding team and we ended up with just seven on the night," noted Chadwick. "We were one-and-done over and over and we needed to be more aggressive getting on the glass and we needed to shoot shots where our players are in rebounding position and we just didn't do that."
The team will continue wrap up its three-game road trip in Huntsville, Texas when they take on Sam Houston State at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
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