CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team came up short in the finale of the regular season on Wednesday evening, falling to Lamar by a final score of 71-54 in its last tune-up before the Southland Conference Tournament.
The loss ensured that the Islanders (15-16, 7-13) could not get their revenge against the Cardinals (22-7, 7-13 SLC) for their meeting earlier in the season, when they were taken down 63-57 in Beaumont. It also kept them from putting together an undefeated homestand to close things out, as they had won their two previous games last week against New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana.
From the very beginning of Wednesday's game, it became clear that Lamar wanted to set the tone physically throughout the night, and the visitors showcased this by putting A&M-Corpus Christi on the back foot immediately with a 10-0 run to kick things off in the first three minutes. The Islanders did put together a response, answering with six straight points of their own on baskets in the paint by graduate
Mireia Aguado, senior
Tymberlin Criswell and junior
Samora Watson, but throughout the back half of the frame, but the Cardinals still managed to hold their lead at five by the end of the first.
The second period was even less kind to the Islanders, as they were outscored 21-7 to go into the break down by 19, their largest halftime deficit of the season. Much like the opening frame, they were blitzed by Lamar for another huge run, this one reaching 14-0 and lasting nearly five minutes of game time. The biggest reason for this was the team failing to catch a rhythm on offense, as A&M-Corpus Christi made just two shots – a three pointer by graduate
Paige Allen and a layup by Aguado – in fifteen attempts while also failing to score any points off of the six turnovers that they managed to force on the other end.
The Islanders did try to throw their own counter punch out of halftime, coming out of the break with seven straight points of their own on an opening basket by senior
Annukka Willstedt, and and-one by graduate
Nabaweeyah McGill and another bucket inside by Criswell to quickly cut the deficit down to a more manageable 12. Lamar would quickly match this in identical fashion, though, immediately responding with seven consecutive points of their own in under two minutes to quash any momentum that the home team had started to build.
From here, the Islanders could not close the gap that they had put themselves in, getting as close as 10 points but failing to sustain any significant runs to bring things back within single digits. A big reason for this was the fact that they once again hit a dry spell on offense, shooting just 4-15 from the field while missing both of their attempts from downtown. They did manage to get something going from the line, reaching the charity stripe 11 times in the fourth while knocking down seven of them, but the Cardinals responded by getting aggressive themselves and knocking down six of nine free throws to curb any advantage that A&M-Corpus Christi thought it could carve out.
A lack of efficiency on offense ended up dooming the Islanders on Wednesday, as they made just 32.8 percent of their shots in total while allowing Lamar to convert on 47.2 percent of theirs on the other end. These woes helped to nullify some good work in terms of defensive playmaking, as they managed to take five more shots than the Cardinals thanks in large part to handily winning the turnover battle by a margin of 16 to nine.
It was a trio of upperclassmen that led the way in scoring for the Islanders in what was their final game in front of the home faithful at the American Bank Center, starting with Criswell, who tallied the most points with 13 on 4-11 shooting while also grabbing three rebounds and picking up three steals. Aguado was next with 11 on 4-9 from the field, and Allen rounded out the players in double figures with 10 of her own. McGill also managed to reach a pretty significant milestone on Wednesday, recording three blocks to bring her in a tie for first place in blocks for a career with the Islanders. With just one rejection in the team's next game, she will surpass Dalesia Booth and become the all-time leader in program history.
The Islanders will now get ready to depart for Lake Charles for the Southland Conference Tournament, starting their run with a first-round matchup against fifth-seeded Northwestern State. This game will be the first of the tournament on the women's side, tipping off on Monday at 11 a.m. CT at the Legacy Center.
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