CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team were handed a tough loss Saturday at the American Bank Center, falling to Nicholls 59-43 after fading down the stretch in the fourth quarter.
The defeat was the second in a row for the Islanders (10-9, 2-6 SLC), who also fell to Incarnate Word in the finale of their road trip on Sunday. It was also their second loss in a row in the series to the Colonels (12-6, 5-4 SLC), with their advantage in the all-time matchup decreasing to 15 wins against 11 losses.
Despite what the final score would indicate, the Islanders got off to a very nice start on Saturday, riding some stifling defense to a four-point lead at the end of the first quarter. They forced Nicholls to shoot just 3-11 from the field and 0-5 from three-point range through the first 10 minutes of the game, doing so while also forcing seven turnovers and scoring nine of their points off of them on the other end. Their attack on offense was balanced on a result, with graduate and newly inserted starter
Nabaweeyah McGill leading the way for five different scorers with four.
A&M-Corpus Christi's defense from the field remained effective after this, but one place that Nicholls managed to claw out an advantage was at the free throw line. Despite shooting just 33 percent in the frame, the Colonels got to the charity stripe eight times and knocked down every single one of them, which helped to counteract their shooting woes. While this was going on, the Islanders ran into a cold spell themselves, scoring just 10 points in the second quarter on 12 shots of their own. This included just one make on six tries for players outside of graduate
Mireia Aguado and junior
Monae' Duffy, which was the biggest reason the team found itself trailing by three headed into the break.
Out of halftime, the two teams traded blows, working to a stalemate in the third quarter to keep the score in the same place. Much like their contest against UIW on Sunday, though, the Islanders lost hold of the rope in the fourth, getting outscored 21-8 in the game's final frame. This included a 13-0 run by the Colonels that took up nearly six minutes of game action, which extended what had been a three-point deficit for the Islanders up to an insurmountable 16. A&M-Corpus Christi was held to just 3-15 from the field over those 10 minutes, and on the other side, it allowed Nicholls to finally break through and convert on seven of its 13 attempts and all three of its shots from downtown after shooting just 2-15 from distance prior.
The biggest factor in the score for the Islanders was their disadvantage from the line, as they were doubled up in free throw makes while shooting seven less in total. They were also outdone from distance, getting up just seven threes and making one as opposed to the 18 and five marks posted by the Colonels.
On the day, A&M-Corpus Christi had two players reach double figures in Duffy and graduate
Paige Allen, who both finished the game with 11 apiece. The two also did solid work on the boards, grabbing five and six respectively to finish just behind McGill in that category, who tallied seven to lead the way in her 29 minutes of action.
The Islanders will now try to get back in the win column on Monday, when they play host to McNeese in their game that was postponed from Thursday due to inclement weather in the Louisiana area. Tip-off is currently scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the American Bank Center.
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