EL PASO, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team was handed a defeat in its final nonconference game of the season on Wednesday evening, getting taken down on the road by UTEP by a final of 62-44 in its last tune-up before beginning its run through Southland Conference play.
The contest on Wednesday proved to be a very defensive battle throughout, with neither the Islanders (1-6) nor the Miners (7-0) reaching the 40 percent shooting from the field on the day. After falling behind by double digits in the first quarter, A&M-Corpus Christi played its Conference USA opponents a lot closer throughout the remainder of the night, with the final three periods each being decided by four points or fewer. This fight helped the visitors keep themselves within striking distance, but in the end, the deficit proved to be too much to overcome.
Leading all players in scoring on the night was senior
Samora Watson, who reached a new high in her two years with the program with 17 points while also grabbing four rebounds. Senior
Marissa Shelton joined Watson in double figures, scoring 12 points while going 2-5 from three-point range and a perfect 4-4 from the line, and senior
K'Nari Holliday continued her recent assault on the glass by tying for the lead among all players on the day with eight rebounds.
The early goings of the game were controlled by UTEP, with the hosts jumping out to a 21-9 lead after the first 10 minutes. The Islanders managed to ramp up their defensive intensity after this, holding the Miners to just eight points in the second quarter on just 4-12 shooting. Amidst the team's own offensive struggles, Watson and Shelton managed to provide most of the offense in the first half, combining for 13 of A&M-Corpus Christi's 15 points.
Out of the halftime break, the Islanders finally managed to catch a rhythm of their own on offense, putting together an 18-point third quarter for their largest figure of the night. This included an 11-5 run in the latter half of the frame, a stretch that was powered by five points from Shelton and three from redshirt sophomore
Torie Sevier off the bench. This helped bring A&M-Corpus Christi back to within 13, but UTEP was able to weather this storm, getting its lead back up to 18 before the end of the third and playing to an even 11-11 score in the fourth to close things out.
The Islanders will now regroup with a 12-day break before heading out to conclude their current five-game road stretch, hitting the court next for their first conference game of the year against Lamar in Beaumont on December 15 at 6:30 p.m.
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