Early Mistakes Limit Islanders in Season Opening Loss

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team could not shake off a tentative start to its 2016-17 season opener at the American Bank Center on Saturday, as Toledo topped the Islanders 76-60.
 
The Islanders (0-1) committed 10 turnovers in the first quarter to fall into 26-8 hole.
 
"I thought we had an exceptionally slow start in the opening 10 minutes," head coach Royce Chadwick said. "We didn't come out of the gate with a lot of intensity. We got hit in the mouth. Our freshmen and seniors did not handle the adversity well.
 
"We addressed it at the end of the quarter, and we played with a little bit more resiliency in the second. We continually got better as the game progressed"
 
Over the final three quarters, the Islanders cut down their giveaways to just eight, as the Blue and Green bested the Rockets (1-0) by two points in that span.
 
Ashanti Plummer provided the much-needed leadership from the upperclassmen to climb back into the game. The redshirt-senior, playing in her first game in over 20 months, posted a career-high 17 points, including a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line. Along with nine points from Kassie Jones and Uri Jolivette, Plummer thought the team bounced back after facing early adversity.
 
"I think we got together during a timeout before coach came into the huddle and said that we need to play our style," Plummer said. "Once we settled down, our personalities really started to come out over the last three quarters."
 
The senior leadership sparked the newcomers to highlight their skills over the final 20 minutes, as Chadwick regularly played three freshmen, a junior and a senior.
 
Among the standout rookie performances, Emma Young shook off a timid start to drop seven points for the Blue and Green, while both Dae Dae Evans and Dalesia Booth dished out a team-high three assists.
 
"Coach kept telling me to keep my head up and play with my heart," Evans said. "I had to step up and lead the team on the court, and the upperclassmen gave the younger players the motivation to go out an fight our way back into the game."
 
Much of the Blue and Green's success in the second half came from getting to the charity stripe. The Islanders knocked down 22-of-32 free throws on the afternoon.
 
The Islanders managed to bring the game within 12 eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter, but a 3-pointer by Toledo's Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriot helped the visitors put the game out of reach for A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
BACK ON THE COURT
The Islanders are back in action on Wednesday when Texas Southern comes to the Dugan Wellness Center for a 7 p.m. tip.

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