WBB Falls in Pink Game

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team dropped its second consecutive game on Wednesday night at the Dugan Wellness Center, as Houston Baptist shot 53-percent from the field to win 73-59.

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The Huskies (10-10, 5-5) shot just shy of 60-percent from beyond the arc in the first half, but only managed a two-point lead, as the Islanders (6-15, 3-7) recorded a season-high 19 points in the second frame, fueled by four points from Kassie Jones and Kre'Ana Henry.

"At halftime, we talked about how we weren't executing the way we wanted to play," head coach Royce Chadwick said after the game. "They were shooting 60-percent from the arc, and we needed to change our defense. Instead, we came out in the second half and played really soft."

"Defensively, we did not do the things we wanted to do on the perimeter. They were able to get the ball in the paint, and scored in the perimeter. We made some adjustments in the fourth quarter, but it was too late."

The Islanders could have found themselves down by a larger margin at the break, if it were not for the strong performance at the charity stripe, led by Mykayla Flores.

The San Antonio native bested her career in the first quarter with a 6-of-6 performance. She would finish with a career-high 17 points, while going 11-of-12 from the line. A&M-Corpus Christi connected on a season-high 22 free throws.

The turning point in the game came at the 5:58 mark of the third quarter, when Brittany Mbamalu connected on one of her two 3-pointers on the night. Five minutes and forty seconds then elapsed between points for the Islanders, seven minutes and forty-nine seconds between baskets in the run of play. During that span, the Huskies went on a 20-2 run, powered by four 3-pointers for the visitors.

Southland Conference leading rebounder Anna Strickland finished with a double-double, a matching 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Rachel Arthur led the visitors with 16 points.

Despite shooting struggles, the Islanders fought to stay in the game. The Blue and Green leveled the score four times throughout the contest, but could not take the lead. A&M-Corpus Christi won the turnover battle for the second consecutive game and recorded 11 takeaways.

"We're winning a lot of battles in recent games," added Chawick. "One of the things is that they are shooting so well against us. They shot 50-percent from the field. When you do that, they don't have a lot of offensive rebound opportunities and you don't get that many defensive rebound chances. On the other side, we're shooting in the low 20s which as the opposite effect."

FLORES PROVIDES THE SPARK

• Freshman guard Mykayla Flores provided an offensive spark coming off the bench in the first quarter. In 19 minutes of work, the point guard led the hosts in scoring, as well as assists with two and stals with three. 
• The 11 made free throws tied for the most in the Royce Chadwick era and were two shy of the single-game record set by Jade Davis on Jan. 31, 2010.
• Despite trailing by as many as 22 in the fourth quarter, the rookie continued to give maximum effort on the court, out-muscling Ekemini Essien for a loose ball, a player six inches taller than Flores. A minute later, the freshman dove for a steal a midcourt, which drew a foul on the Huskies.

"Mykayla led by example tonight," Chadwick said referring to his freshman point guard. "She showed the "don't do what I say, do what I do" mentality. We put her at point guard and she wants to be the point guard. She wants to lead this team. She wants to do what the coaches call out on the floor." 

WHAT'S NEXT

The Islanders wrap up a three-game homestand on Saturday against Sam Houston State at the American Bank Center for a 2 p.m. tip. The basketball doubleheader will be a part of the Islanders Homecoming.