Islanders Come Up Short at Texas State

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team rekindled a rivalry from its early years in the Southland Conference on Friday night with a trip to Texas State. Despite a double-double from senior Camesha Davis, the Islanders (1-2) came up short in San Marcos, falling 57-50.
 
After a quick start in the opening quarter, taking a 14-7 lead, A&M-Corpus Christi had to fight off being on the wrong side of a 23-9 run to end the first half.
 
"I thought we started better than any other game this season," head coach Royce Chadwick said. "When the bench came in, they weren't necessarily coming in and elevating our play."
 
The Islanders shrugged off the rough patch by going on a 16-8 run of their own to open the second half, powered by 3-pointers from Brianna Jackson and Kassie Jones. Despite the surge of energy, fatigue caught up to the Islanders late in the game, who where playing their third game in seven days.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi went 3-of-10 from the floor and sent Texas State (2-1) to the line for 10 of their 18 points in the final stanza. A 3-pointer by Texas State leading scorer Toshua Leavitt give the hosts the lead for good with 51 seconds to play.


"In the second half, I knew we were going to be a little tired considering that we played on Wednesday," Chadwick added. "It was our first road game, so we were trying to sub in as many people as we could. We were only able to score seven points, because we were very fatigued down the stretch."
 
Outshooting the Bobcats 38-percent to 30-percent, the Islanders could only turn nine giveaways by Texas State into six points, while giving up 16 points on 15 turnovers.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi struggled to find success getting to the free throw line. Over the first two games of the year, the Islanders knocked down at least 15 shots from the line. On Friday, the Blue and Green managed to connect on seven of its 11 attempts on the night.
 
DAVIS DOUBLE TROUBLE
Senior Camesha Davis finished the night with 13 points and 10 rebounds for her seventh career double-double. The Desoto native moved into a tie with Jillianne Duffey (2003-07) for eighth on the all-time list.
 
Davis also slid up another record list on Friday due to her four offensive rebounds. She became just the eighth player in program history to reach the 200 mark on the offensive glass.
 
Chadwick attributed much of his team's ability to stay in the game to Davis' tenacity, including her eight points over the final 20 minutes.
 
"I thought Camesha played very well for us," Chadwick said. "She helped us out a lot by getting on the offensive glass. We had eight offensive boards as a team and Camesha had half of them. There are 40 minutes of play on the other block, and we need to find contributors that will match her effort."
 
CONNECTING FROM DEEP
In the first two games of the year, A&M-Corpus Christi managed to sink just four 3-pointers. To put that into perspective, Royce Chadwick-coached teams on the Island have averaged 5.5 long balls per game over the last three years.
 
Along with Davis' presence in the post, the long-range efforts kept the Islanders in the game for much of the second half. Dae Dae Evans added to the tally of Jones and Jackson with her first career 3-pointer, as the Blue and Green sunk a season-high five from downtown.
 
DEFENDING THE HOME COURT
The Islanders return to the American Bank Center next Tuesday to face Montana Tech. The contest will kick off the Holiday Inn North Padre Island Challenge, which consists of the Islanders' games against Montana Tech (Nov. 23) Panhandle State (Nov. 30) and Schreiner (Dec. 6).

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