CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team dropped the final game of its three-game homestand on Saturday to Central Arkansas, 49-41. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak.
Saturday's low-scoring affair was the first time the Blue and Green has played in a game when neither club scored more than 50 points since a 49-46 defensive stalemate against UTRGV on Jan. 1, 2015.
"We knew baskets were going to be at a premium tonight," head coach
Royce Chadwick said. "They are one of the best teams in our conference defensively. We knew we were going to have to work for everything we got, and we tried to make them do the same. For the most part, I thought we did that."
Facing the seventh ranked scoring defense in the nation, the Islanders (6-11, 2-4) had their hands full all day shooting 28.3-percent from the field. To make up for the 13 made baskets, the Blue and Green went 13-of-20 from the charity stripe, led by
Erin Willis' 5-of-6 performance.
Brittany Mbamalu paced the Islanders with a game-high 16 points for her fourth straight game in double figures. Her 3-pointer with 5:52 to play in the third quarter moved the Houston native into second place on the all-time 3-point records list.
A&M-Corpus Christi kept the game close with its defense. The Sugar Bears (11-4, 3-2) struggled to find an answer to the pressure in the opening 10 minutes, as the Blue and Green held UCA to a program-record five points in the first quarter.
Trailing by three at the break, the Islanders found themselves on the wrong side of a 25-6 run between the second and third quarters. During the stretch, the Blue and Green was 2-of-16, while the Sugar Bears countered with 11 points by Taylor Baudoin and eight from Maggie Proffitt on 11-of-19 shooting. Baudoin and Proffift led UCA with 16 and 15, respectively.
"First five minutes of the third quarter, I didn't think we were locked in," Chadwick added. "We had a chance to come back, but we missed 5-of-6 free throws in the third, and I think that doomed us. We needed every point that we could get."
Despite falling behind by 11 in the fourth, A&M-Corpus Christi battled back and finished the game on a 15-10 streak, scoring eight of the game's final 10 points.
Racquel Logan entered Saturday as one of leading post scorers in the Southland Conference for Central Arkansas. The Islanders kept Logan in check, limiting her to just four points and forcing a trio of turnovers.
With the 6-foot-1 Logan patrolling the lane, points in the paint were a luxury for the Islanders, as they were outscored inside 22-10.
Tiara Matthews showed her strength down low picking up six of her nine points in the lane.
"I thought Tiara really came of age tonight," Chadwick continued. "We had a low post presence for the first time in a long time. She was down on that block making things happen."
POSTGAME NOTES
>> The Islanders cut their turnovers to 12 against the Sugar Bears, down from 30 against Southeastern Louisiana.
>> With a pair of 3-pointers, Mbamalu now has 53 games with multiple makes from deep.
>> Saturday was the 10th time the Blue and Green has made more free throws than an opponent this season.
BYE WEEK TO HUNTSVILLE
The Islanders do not play a midweeker and are off until a trip to Huntsville to face Sam Houston State next Saturday.
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- Go Islanders -
