CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Down by 11 and shooting 18-percent after the first quarter, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team was in need of a spark in order to avoid a season sweep by Nicholls on Saturday afternoon. Senior
Kassie Jones rallied the troops with a season-high 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting, as the Islanders (8-12, 4-5) topped Nicholls 65-60 at the American Bank Center.
After putting up a season-low four points in the first quarter, the Islanders turned it on over the final three periods, outscoring the Colonels 61-45 behind 53-percent shooting.
"This week we worked on moving Kassie to the point where she could get some more shots and this game she did just that and played exceptionally well," said head coach
Royce Chadwick. "She changed the dynamic of the game because she was able to shoot the ball which picked up our intensity on defense.
"I thought it showed how resilient we can be. We didn't play well in the first quarter, but we kept our composure and kept fighting. A win tonight goes a long way for us. If you want to win in Katy, you have to put it together and get hot at this point in the season."
The Islanders senior class teamed up for solid production all night. Along with Jones' performance,
Ashanti Plummer snagged a game-high seven rebounds and
Camesha Davis added six points and four boards.
Once the Islanders extended the lead to nine points in the fourth quarter, the final outcome was never in doubt. Five free throws by Colonels leading scorer Hope Pawlowski cut the lead late, but did little more than dent the final margin.
KASSIE CLUTCH
>> After playing just nine minutes in the previous five games, Chadwick handed Jones the keys to the offense with 2:12 remaining in the first quarter with the Blue and Green down 11.
>> Jones dished out a career-high five assists to go along with four rebounds.
>> Going 8-of-8 at the charity stripe, Jones tied for the fifth-best game in program history from the free throw line.
>> The Lufkin native also scored 10 of the final 11 points for the Islanders.
TURNING THE TIDE
In the first quarter, the Islanders were 2-of-11 from the field and had five giveaways. The deficit eventually grew to 17 in the second quarter. Rather than force the issue early, A&M-Corpus Christi settled in to claw away at the Colonel's lead.
Plummer started the Islanders' comeback with a minute to play in the first half on a traditional 3-point play, before
Emma Young cut to the basket to make the deficit 12 points at the break. In total, the Blue and Green went on a 32-11 run between the end of the second and the early part of the fourth.
Brittany Mbamalu drained a pair of 3-pointers during the run to pull within 16 of breaking the all-time program record of 209.
HOT FOURTH QUARTER
>> A&M-Corpus Christi connected on seven of its first eight shots in the fourth.
>>
Dalesia Booth scored nine of her 13 points in the last frame for her first game in double figures since Dec. 19 against UCSB.
>> The Blue and Green harassed Nicholls into shooting 8-of-22 over the final 10 minutes to go along with 10 turnovers.
STEPPING UP THE DEFENSE
>> After a slow start defensively, A&M-Corpus Christi came on strong late in the game forcing two shot clock violations, as well as several wild late possession shots.
>> Jones reached the century mark in steals for her career, becoming the 11th player in program history to hit the mark, with her lone takeaway. The Islanders managed eight robberies on the night.
>> Plummer matched her season high with a trio of blocks, while Davis added a rejection.
AWAITING ABILENE CHRISTIAN
The Islanders remain at home on Wednesday night to play the Wildcats at 5:30 p.m. in the American Bank Center.
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- Go Islanders -
