CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Bolstered by four players in double figures for the third time this season, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team kickstarted a three-game home stand with a 77-66 victory over McNeese at Stripes Court at the American Bank Center.
Kassie Jones tallied a career-high 28 points, including 11-of-12 shooting, which tied for the seventh most in program history.
Brittany Mbamalu and
Dalesia Booth went for 12 points apiece, while
Ashanti Plummer chipped in 10.
"We have been trying to put together a full game and I thought we did that tonight," head coach
Royce Chadwick said. "They made a run at us and cut into our lead, but we didn't fold. We were resilient, we fought back and did the things we needed to do to execute. If five individuals are out there doing their job, it meshes the whole team to make something happen.
"Our senior class was big time for us. I thought they did a really good job of making plays when it counted the most and that's what you hope for. We needed to get this win, we needed the confidence and get on a roll. We have a couple of home games left so the table is set for us to accomplish what we need to accomplish here in the next two weeks."
The Islanders (10-17, 6-10) flew out of the gates in the Southland Conference showdown, connecting on four 3-pointers and scoring a season-high 26 points in the first quarter. The offensive output continued into the second as Corpus Christi nearly broke the record for field goal percentage in a half with a 62.5-percent clip, just missing the mark by three percent.
"You play a lot better defense when you're making field goals, but unfortunately, they were scoring field goals too," Chadwick added. "We were trying to match bucket for bucket. As a coaching staff, we kept looking at this going, 'Are we going to need 80 to win? That's not our M.O.'
"We don't necessarily go out there and get 75 points. We kept thinking how many points are we going to need to win. We harped that we needed to play defense, hold them in the sixties, and score some points. I'm very proud of where we sit right now."
Corpus Christi's lead hovered around 10 from the late second quarter until the early part of the third. McNeese (12-15, 7-9) roared back on a 16-4 run, taking a four-point lead with 2:01 to play in the third.
Spurred by seven straight points from Jones, the Islanders rolled off a 27-12 run, while going 14-of-18 from the line, to close out the game. The Blue and Green shot 50-percent from the field for the second time this season.
Entering the weekend, McNeese ranked 11th in the country in offensive rebounds with 20 per game. Against the Blue and Green, the Cowgirls managed just eight second-chance opportunities.
SEALING THE DEAL IN THE FOURTH
>> After the Islanders took a five-point lead early in the fourth, McNeese cut the advantage back to one with 3:13 to play.
>> Over the final stretch, Corpus Christi scored all 14 of its remaining points at the line.
>> The Blue and Green made 22 freebies on the afternoon. It marked the sixth time this season the Islanders score 20-plus points at the charity stripe.
JUMPSTARTER JONES
>> Jones bested her previous career high of 24 set against Angelo State in December of 2015.
>> Jones opened the afternoon with a pair of 3-pointers in the opening quarter, before her seven-point output towards the end of the third.
>> In the final period alone, Jones scored 13 points of the Blue and Green's 22 points.
CONNECTING ON THE 3
>> The Blue and Green connected on seven 3-pointers with Mbamalu collecting all 12 of her points behind the arc.
>> Corpus Christi opened the afternoon with a perfect 6-of-6 from deep in the first half.
>> Entering the game, the Islanders were 7-of-63 (11-percent) over the previous five games.
DROPPING DIMES
>> The Islanders assisted on 15 of its 24 made baskets on the night, including 13 of its first 15 in the first half.
>>
Dalesia Booth matched her career high with four dimes, while eight Islanders put teammates in a position to score.
>> Six players for the Blue and Green had a neutral or positive assist-to-turnover ratio.
STAY SOCIAL
For all the latest information surrounding Islanders women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter (@IslandersWBB) and like the team on Facebook (Islanders Women's Basketball).
- Go Islanders -
