KATY, Texas – With 6:58 to play in the fourth quarter, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team saw its 12-point lead shaved to four.
Kassie Jones scored the next five points to spark a 17-10 run to close the game, as the Islanders (13-17, 8-10) knocked off Northwestern State, 57-46, in the opening round of the Southland Conference Tournament.
"I was very proud of our team effort," head coach
Royce Chadwick said. "We didn't execute the way we wanted to execute in the first half. I think Northwestern State had a lot to do with that. Our defense kept us in the game. I thought we executed our game plan well on the defensive side of the ball. In the second half, we tried to get some looks for our shooters and get our high-low going, and I thought we were successful at that.
"We made plays when we needed to make them. We blocked some shots on defense. On offense, we penetrated, kicked and made free throws down the stretch. We did all the little things to advance. We're very fortunate to that we are moving on. Northwestern State is a talented program with good scorers. They had a very good season, but I'm proud of what our players had to do in order to move on."
Dalesia Booth scored a team-high 14 points and
Brittany Mbamalu chipped in 12, as Jones finished with nine points.
The Islanders were held scoreless through the first 6:05 of the game. During the stretch, Corpus Christi kept the Lady Demons in check, forcing three turnovers and holding them to 2-of-9 from the field.
Booth scored the first six points for the Islanders. Corpus Christi never allowed Northwestern State to jump the lead beyond five in the first half.
Down by four coming out of the halftime break, the Blue and Green rallied.
Brittany Mbamalu drove the lane with 5:42 remaining in the third to give the Islanders their second and final lead of the game.
Corpus Christi outscored the Lady Demons 22-8 in the third, propelled by a 20-3 run with eight points from Mbamalu, six from
Ashanti Plummer and four from
Camesha Davis. Northwestern State went 1-of-12 from the field during the stretch.
Northwestern State First Team All-Southland guard Beatrice Attura scored four straight points in an 8-0, as the Lady Demons cut the lead to four in the fourth. She finished with a game-high 16 points on 6-of-26 shooting.
Jones' shifted the momentum back in favor of the Islanders with a traditional 3-point play, sending the Islanders into the next round.
Corpus Christi overcame a 23-percent shooting clip in the first half to knock down 48.1-percent of its shots in the final 20 minutes.
SENIOR SWATS
>> The Islanders' defense was anchored by the shot-blocking dominance of
Ashanti Plummer and
Camesha Davis. Corpus Christi racked up nine rejections on the afternoon, smashing the previous school record for tournament blocks by three.
>>
Camesha Davis set the program mark for individual tournament blocks with five, also a career high.
>>
Ashanti Plummer added a trio of swats for her ninth multi-block game of the season.
DEFENSE DOMINATES
>> After Attura cut the lead down to four, the Islanders kept her in check, scoring just three points in the final five minutes.
>> Along with the season-high tying nine blocks, the Blue and Green had six steals, including two from
Kassie Jones to move into ninth on the all-time list.
>> Corpus Christi held Northwestern State to 28.1-percent shooting and a 23.5-percent clip from behind the arc.
BIG THIRD QUARTER
>> The Islanders posted its largest scoring margin in a third quarter this season at plus-14 against the Lady Demons.
>> Corpus Christi went 9-of-14 from the field and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
>> Northwestern State connected on just three of its 15 shots during the quarter.
MAKING THE FREEBIES
>> The Islanders set a season-high with a 94.7-percent performance (18-of-19) at the free throw line.
>> Corpus Christi went 14-of-15 in the second half, after making all four in the opening 20 minutes.
>> Five Islanders were perfect on the afternoon.
NEXT UP NEW ORLEANS
The Islanders will face New Orleans in the second round on Friday morning at 11 a.m. The Blue and Green faced the Privateers in the conference opener earlier this season.
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- Go Islanders -
