STILLWATER, Okla. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team was unable to start their long road trip with a win on Monday evening, going into a tough environment and falling to No. 24 Oklahoma State by a final score of 98-45.
At the beginning of Monday's contest, it was the Islanders (1-3) who controlled the flow of the game from the outset, jumping out to a quick 7-2 lead and forcing the Cowgirls (6-1) into an early timeout just four minutes in. This run was started by a basket on the fastbreak by senior
K'Nari Holliday on a nice feed from senior
Samora Watson on the team's first possession of the game, and after a couple minutes of solid defense on both sides, the visitors got back on the board on a three pointer by graduate
Chelsea Wooten. The next time down after this, Watson slashed her way into the paint and nailed a turnaround spinning jumper, forcing the stoppage from the hosts and getting an uproar from the visiting bench.
A&M-Corpus Christi could not continue this momentum, however, as the hosts would turn up the pressure by scoring each of the next 25 points, a run that helped them get the lead and extend it up to 40-18 at the break. This advantage would continue to grow by the end of the third quarter, at which point the Islanders managed to find their way on offense again, bouncing back 20 points in the fourth period to close things out. The scoring in the final frame was spearheaded by junior
Asha Walker, who knocked down threes on back-to-back possessions, and Holliday, who put in a pair of shots of her own while also knocking down two tries from the line before the Cowgirls finally closed things out.
In the final box score, Watson led the way in points with 11 on 4-7 shooting while also dishing out a team-high five assists and tying for the team lead with four rebounds. After her, Shelton and Walker each poured in nine apiece, with the former doing so off the strength of a perfect 6-6 day at the free throw line and the latter knocking down three triples in eight tries to continue her hot start from deep on the young season. On the boards, Watson was joined at the top by both Shelton and Holliday.
The Islanders will now have a quick turnaround to their next game, continuing their trip through the Sooner State with a stop in Tulsa to take on Oral Roberts on Wednesday at 1 p.m.
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