BEAUMONT, Texas - For 33 seasons,
Royce Chadwick has paced the sidelines, battled minds with coaches and guided young women through their collegiate experiences. On Wednesday night, Chadwick took the helm for the 1,000th time in his career, as the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team's fourth-quarter rally fell short at Lamar, dropping the Southland Conference contest 65-49.
After falling behind in the first quarter, the Islanders (7-12, 3-5) rallied within 10 points on five occasions, but each time, Lamar (13-5, 6-2) extended the lead out of reach.
"I don't think the scoreboard was indicative of hard this game was played tonight," Chadwick said. "We gave up the ball too many times and gave up too many offensive rebounds. They were a very athletic team, and we didn't do a good job of boxing out. We didn't take the scout to the floor and allowed their players to drive to the basket. I think we were out of sync on offense and turned it over at the wrong times."
Neither side controlled the game for extended periods outside of offensive spurts, as both teams combined for nine runs of seven points or more.
Lamar won the bruising battle on the boards 39-31. 17 of the Cardinals' rebounds came on the offensive end and turned into 15 second-chance points. The hosts also scored 24 points on 23 giveaways by the Blue and Green.
Trailing at the break by 17, the Islanders battled back in the third outscoring the hosts 17-12.
Emma Young and
Erin Willis capped a 15-4 run to cut the deficit to seven with 7:17 to play in the fourth. Lamar closed the game on a 13-4 streak to win the game, propelled by the Islanders going 2-of-10 from the floor and 0-for-5 from deep.
Brittany Mbamalu finished with 11 points for her sixth consecutive game in double figures.
Camesha Davis tallied eight points on the night, as six Islanders scored six points or more. On the glass, Willis led the team for the first time in her career with six rebounds.
CHADWICK'S MILESTONE
>> Chadwick had his collegiate debut at Panhandle State University in 1984. Prior to arriving on the Island in 2012, the Floydada native made stops at Sam Houston State, Howard, Stephen F. Austin, and Marshall.
>> Wednesday was Chadwick's 127th game with the Islanders.
>> Sitting at 615 career victories, Chadwick ranks 48th on the NCAA all-time coaching list. He needs nine wins to catch Bill Fennelly of Iowa State for 47th.
>> 159 of Chadwick's victories have come in Southland Conference play, which ranks second in league history.
CONFLICT WITH THE COLONELS
The Islanders return to the American Bank Center on Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. tip with Nicholls. Saturday's contest will be streamed on ESPN3.
STAY SOCIAL
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- Go Islanders -
