TULSA, Okla. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team fell in the second half of their Oklahoma road trip on Wednesday afternoon, playing tight but ultimately getting taken down by Oral Roberts by a final score of 89-74.
Wednesday's contest saw the Islanders (1-5) and Golden Eagles (3-5) trade blows from the outset, with the two teams playing to a near deadlock in the early goings. Getting it going early on offense was senior
K'Nari Holliday, who started what was an excellent day overall by putting the team on the board first with an and-one before then making her way up to nine points and 10 rebounds in just the first half alone, leading everyone on the court in both categories by a wide margin. She was also part of the biggest run of the day for A&M-Corpus Christi, a 7-0 swing near the end of the second quarter that saw her put another one through the basket in the paint while graduate
Chelsea Wooten nailed a three and sophomore
Rayna Williams got a layup to fall. This put the team up by four, and by the time the break rolled around, it managed to take a 38-35 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter saw Oral Roberts find its momentum, however, with the home team outscoring A&M-Corpus Christi 27-14 over these 10 minutes to turn its deficit into a 10-point advantage heading into the final period. This set up a fight to come back for the Islanders, and at the beginning of the quarter, they started to chip away, getting to within five after scoring the first five points of the quarter on a Holliday layup and an and-one by senior
Samora Watson. This would be the closest they would get, though, as the Golden Eagles punched right back with nine straight points to again put the visitors down 14 with seven minutes to go. A couple of late threes by Wooten and some successful drives by Watson brought the Islanders back within striking distance, but they could not fully close the gap and took home the tough defeat as a result.
The game ended up being closer than what the final score would indicate, with the two battling to five different lead changes and six different ties throughout the flow of play. A&M-Corpus Christi one-upped ORU in a few different categories, grabbing 36 total boards and 15 on the offensive glass as opposed to 31 and seven from its opponents while also outscoring the hosts 36-34 in the paint and 12-11 on second chances. The biggest swing of the day ended up being in transition, though, as the Islanders were outscored by a margin of 24-2 on the fast break.
The best individual line for either team ended up being Holliday, who scored 15 points on 7-12 shooting while also grabbing a whopping 15 rebounds, six of which were offensive. This was the second double-double of the year for the Islanders, joining Wooten's 13-point, 10-assist performance against College of Biblical Studies on November 3, and it was the first time a member of the team grabbed at least 15 boards in a game since
Paige Allen notched 18 against East Texas A&M (then A&M-Commerce) back on February 17, 2024.
Beyond Holliday, the Islanders also got a very nice effort from Wooten, who ended up being the leading scorer on the day for either team with 18 points on 7-15 shooting and 4-10 from three-point range. The McKinney, Texas native also tied for the game lead in assists, dishing out five for her most since the aforementioned performance in the season opener. Rounding out the double-figure scorers for the team was senior
Marissa Shelton, who poured in 14 of her own to go along with four assists.
The Islanders now return home before then heading out on the road again next week, traveling to west Texas to take on UTEP for their final nonconference game on Wednesday at 1 p.m.
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