Blasting the Orediggers

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Powered by four players in double figures, including a game-high 21 by Dalesia Booth, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team went into the Thanksgiving break on a high note following an 83-50 victory over Montana Tech on Wednesday night on Stripes Court at the American Bank Center.
 
After tentative starts and tight affairs through the first three games of the season, the Islanders (2-2) turned on the afterburners against the Orediggers, jumping out to a 45-24 lead at the half, powered by 65.5-percent shooting.
 
"I thought it was important that we got off to a good start tonight," head coach Royce Chadwick said. "We wanted to get that first quarter going a little bit quicker. We didn't necessarily have the best start in the first four minutes, but we turned it on in the next six.
 
"Once we had the lead, we were able to get our press going a little bit, and got things going from our defense. Our defense then turned into some offense for us."
 
Defensively, the Islanders limited Montana Tech to just 24.6-percent from the field, the lowest by any opponent since the Blue and Green defeated Abilene Christian 60-40 on March 7, 2015.
 
After extending the lead to 24 at the 8:26 mark of the second quarter, A&M-Corpus Christi took firm control of the game with a 20-9 run to close the first half. Matching scores of 26 points in the second and third quarters tied for the third most points in a period in program history.
 
BOOTH BOOGIES
Rookie Dalesia Booth had a career day against the Orediggers. The freshman out of San Antonio was an efficient 9-of-10 from the field. Booth became just the fourth player on the current roster to score 20 points in a game.
 
"Before the game, I was hitting all my shots during shootaround," Booth said. "Once I started to get into my groove, I had a lot of confidence that I was going to make my shots when I needed to."
 
The 5'9 guard joined some elite company on Wednesday, as one of a handful of Islanders freshmen to score 20 points in a game, and the first to do so since Brittany Mbamalu's cool 20 on the road against Lamar on Feb. 1, 2014.
 
CLEANING UP THE BOARDS
The Islanders owned the glass against the Orediggers with a 53-29 advantage. Davis led the way with second straight outing of 10 or more. The Islanders saw 12 of its 14 active players pull down a rebound.
 
The last time the Blue and Green had a rebound advantage of plus-19 or better came in a thrashing 99-33 victory over Huston-Tillotson on Dec. 30, 2014, which was also the last time A&M-Corpus Christi had a margin of victory more than 33 points.
 
DAVIS DOUBLES DOWN
Senior Camesha Davis continued to be a solid presence in the post on Wednesday night. The DeSoto native controlled the glass and was a productive force offensively with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The double-double marked her second in as many games and the eighth of her career, which now ties her for eighth with Rachel Grayson (1999-01). She is the first Islander to have back-to-back double-doubles since Olivia Fouty achieved that mark to close out the 2014-15 regular season.
 
SPREADING THE WEALTH
>> Aside from the contributions from Booth and Davis, freshman Emma Young and senior Ashanti Plummer dropped 10 points of their own.
>> A&M-Corpus Christi had not seen four players reach double figures since the 60-52 victory over Houston Baptist on March 1, 2015.
>> Later in the game, other players managed to get in on the scoring. Redshirt-freshman Sydney-Anne Cottrell, in the first minutes of her career, hit a mid-range jumper, before draining a corner 3-pointer to finish the game with five points.
 
POUNDING THE PAINT
Even with a short post rotation, the Islanders were able to constantly work the ball into the paint against the Orediggers. A&M-Corpus Christi posted 46 points in the paint, the highest since the 2014-15 campaign, while limiting Montana Tech to just 18 points near the basket.
 
"We thought that we had the advantage in the paint," Chadwick added. "We thought we could outmatch them with Ashanti Plummer, Tiara Matthews, Camesha Davis and Uri Jolivette. With our defensive plan to shutout the perimeter, the posts were by themselves down low. Once they started having success on defense, they started to get things rolling on the offensive end."
 
The success inside proved no need for a perimeter game, as the Blue and Green finished with the game with Cottrell's lone shot from behind the arc. The Islanders last won a game with a single 3-pointer on Nov. 21, 2009 at Texas Southern.
 
CHADWICK COUNTER
With the victory against Montana Tech, Royce Chadwick earned his 610th career win. In his 33rd year of collegiate coaching and his fifth on the Island, the Floydada native has 49 wins on the year.
 
The win brings Chadwick within one of 48th place on the all-time wins list to tie with Susan Dunagan from Roanoke (1984-14). A victory next Tuesday against Panhandle State will have added significance, as the Islanders' coach started his career with Aggies.
 
CONTINUING THE CHALLENGE
A&M-Corpus Christi returns from its Thanksgiving break next Wednesday with the second game of the Holiday Inn North Padre Island Challenge against Panhandle State. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. at the Dugan Wellness Center.

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