Box Score CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – In one of the most exciting games of the year, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team played in its first overtime game of the season against Nicholls. The Islanders (3-13, 0-5) dropped their 11th straight game with a 64-62 loss to the Colonels (5-10, 3-2).
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"I thought we did a good job with our defensive effort," head coach Royce Chadwick said after the game. "We did a good job of keeping pressure on the basketball and making plays away from the ball. We did great job of helping each other out on the defensive end.
"Offensively, we just turned it over too many times. I don't think we got trapped one time tonight. We turned it over 29 times and unforced errors hurt us. I thought we had a lack of execution in overtime. We had the opportunities, but the turnovers were the reason why we came up short."
Defense was a major focus coming into the game for Chadwick. In the first quarter, the blue and green recorded five takeaways en route to a season-high 17 steals for, led by four from Shola Adebayo. The Islanders held the Colonels to a season-low eight points in the first quarter.
Mykayla Flores connected on a long ball early in the second to extend the Islanders lead to six, before Kre'Ana Henry chipped in four consecutive free throws, as a part of her team-high 13. The Colonels finished the first half on an 8-2 run for 27-26 lead at the break.
The Islanders trailed 34-28 with 8:25 remaining in the third, before going on a 14-4 run to take a four point lead, but the Colonels went back in front going into the fourth on last-second 3-pointer from Hope Pawlowski, who led the visitors with 23 points on the night.
After falling behind by five points midway through the fourth quarter, Henry found a cutting Adebayo in the lane for a layup, before Jennifer Ramirez knocked down a 3-pointer to even the score.
With the game on the line, Ramirez stepped up for the Islanders in a clutch situation. Guarded tightly by a Colonels defender, the Bronx, N.Y., native produced a spectacular crossover move to drive the lane and tie the game with a layup with six ticks remaining on the clock.
Nicholls opened a quick, four-point lead early in the overtime period. Ramirez drained her second shot from downtown with under a minute remaining, but three turnovers in the extra period by the blue and green turned into four points for the Colonels, who went on to their third Southland Conference victory
HENRY HITS HIGH MARKS
• Kre'Ana Henry set her career high with 13 points. The Junior-transfer nearly set her record in the second quarter alone with eight points.
• As a part of her 13 points, Henry went 5-of-5 at the charity stripe for the best outing in her first season in an Islanders uniform.
• This season, the Toledo, Ohio, native is averaging 5.9 points and 4.8 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per game at home.
"We were really aggressive in the first couple of periods and that opened up some opportunities for us down low," Henry said. "We were able to get to the line early. Offensively, I think I got some great passes from my teammate, which gave me the ability to score tonight."
NOTABLE STATS
• 44 points off the bench for the Islanders were the most for the blue and green in the Royce Chadwick era.
• Saturday's game was the seventh time this season that three Islanders reached double-digits in scoring, as Ramirez and Adebayo joined Henry in double-figure with 10 apiece.
• Gee Lawler set a career high for the second consecutive game, posting a new mark in rebounds with six.
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