Box Score CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – At the 3:37 mark of the third quarter, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team trailed Abilene Christian by 16 points. For the next eight minutes and four seconds, the Islanders rolled off a 19-6 run to close the deficit to three against the Southland Conference leaders.
However, six consecutive missed shots following the run allowed the Wildcats to open a nine-point lead that they would hold onto for a 71-65 win at the Dugan Wellness Center on Wednesday night.
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"We had opportunities tonight and got the ball in playmakers' hands," head coach Royce Chadwick said after the game. "We had a chance, but couldn't make the plays. If we make those plays in the final minutes, it could have been a different game."
The Islanders (8-17, 5-9) fell behind early in the first quarter. Suzzy Dimba, playing without the aid of her twin sister Lizzy, sparked a flurry of 3-pointers for the Wildcats (21-3, 12-1) in the opening frame, as the visitors connected on 6-of-10 from deep. Dimba finished with a game-high 25.
Despite holding a 23-15 advantage on the boards and limiting the Islanders to just 18-percent shooting from 3-point range in the first half, Abilene Christian could not distance themselves by more than 14 at the break.
"We wanted to take away the 3 much better than we did," added Chadwick. "We told our players that they had three players who could shoot from outside, and we needed to be out there guarding them. We didn't take the scout to the floor in the first half."
Abilene Christian finished the game shooting at 49-percent clip. When the visitors did not connect on one of their 24 shots on the evening, the Blue and Green harassed them on defense, forcing 22 turnovers, which is the third highest total this season. In contrast, the hosts committed gave possession away 16 times, the fewest total in five games.
"We played some pretty good defense in a lot of stretches," Chadwick added. "We got some deflections and got some steals. We had some opportunities on offense and made some plays, but turnovers really hurt us."
A second half team, the Wildcats came into the game outscoring opponents by nearly 10 points per game in the final two quarters. On Wednesday, A&M-Corpus Christi beat the visitors by eight points in the third and fourth quarters combined.
The Islanders shot 44-percent from the field and 41-percent from deep in the second half to end the game at 38.7-percent and 30.4-percent, respectively. Additionally, the reserves for the Islanders outscored the ACU bench by 37 points.
Gee Lawler made the most of her fifth start of her career, scoring a career best 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in 23 minutes of work. Camesha Davis matched the senior with a team-high on the boards.
Brittany Mbamalu found her hot shooting touch in the fourth quarter, with four consecutive 3-pointers, as a part of a 4-of-8 performance from behind the arc. Wednesday was the 14th time in the Houston native's career when she made a quartet of long balls.
WHAT'S NEXT
A&M-Corpus Christi will honor its four seniors on Saturday in the final home game of the year as Incarnate Word will come to the Coastal Bend for a 4 p.m. tip in the Dugan, as a part of a doubleheader for the men's and women's teams.
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