ABILENE, Texas – Behind 53.3-percent shooting in the third quarter, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team climbed out of an 11-point hole in the second half on Wednesday night at Abilene Christian to tie the game at the midway point of the fourth quarter, but a trio of 3-pointers in the final stanza for the hosts sent the Islanders to a 72-64 loss on the road.
Ashanti Plummer and
Dae Dae Evans turned it on in the second half scoring 27 of the Islanders' (9-17, 5-10) 35 points in the final 20 minutes, including 13 of 17 in the fourth.
"I thought we put three and a half quarters together of very good basketball," head coach
Royce Chadwick said. "I thought we were a play or two away down the stretch. I thought we put ourselves in position to make the plays, but we came away a little bit short."
A&M-Corpus Christi forced 19 Wildcat (19-8, 13-2) turnovers and shot 90-percent at the charity stripe to match its season high.
Avoiding a fourth-quarter lull similar to recent games, the Islanders overcame 25-percent shooting in the final period by going 11-of-12 from the line.
OFF THE BENCH
The Islanders outscored ACU 43-15 in bench scoring, due largely to career highs from Plummer and Evans with 18 and 17 points, respectively.
"Ashanti was big time for us on the glass and drawing fouls," added Chadwick. "When she made it to the free throw line, she knocked them all down. It's a great time for one of your seniors to step up in late February. She did a good job of stepping up for us, and we need to continue that on Saturday.
"Dae Dae had one of her best games in the last couple weeks. She found ways to get to the basket and score. When it didn't fall for her, she was able to make her free throws."
Plummer's 10-for-10 performance at the line tied the program record for most free throws in a perfect outing.
THE TIPPING POINT
>> Abilene Christian topped the Blue and Green 27-6 in points from the perimeter behind nine 3-pointers, four of which came in the second quarter.
>> Alexis Mason went 5-of-14 from deep and tallied 19 points, while Lizzy Dimba scored a game-high 21 points.
ADDED NOTES
>> Plummer and
Uri Jolivette tied for the team high in rebounding with six.
>> The Islanders now have 104 blocks on the season, after rejecting four shots tonight. They are now nine swats away from breaking the school record for single-season blocks.
>> A&M-Corpus Christi scored 31 combined points off turnovers and offensive rebounds.
MATCHUP WITH MCNEESE
The Blue and Green return home on Saturday for an 11:30 a.m. tip with McNeese. Saturday will be Camper Appreciation Day. All camp participants with their camp t-shirt will receive one free ticket.
STAY SOCIAL
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- Go Islanders -
