CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team picked up a big win over Southeastern Louisiana in its game on Saturday afternoon, catching fire out of the half and riding that to victory by a final score of 68-65.
Looking to turn around their recent fortunes, the Islanders found themselves chasing early on, as the Lady Lions came out swinging with eight of the first 10 points of the afternoon after just two minutes of game action. They didn't let this deficit advance any further than this throughout the rest of the first period, though, responding back quickly starting with a layup off an offensive rebound by senior
K'Nari Holliday and a triple from senior
Marissa Shelton. Holliday would serve as the focal point of the offense in the opening period, pouring in six points and grabbing four rebounds – three of which were at the offensive end – to help the hosts go into the first break down by just four.
A&M-Corpus Christi kept the pressure on offensively to kick off the second, starting with a pair of three-pointers by graduate
Chelsea Wooten and junior
Asha Walker and following that up with trips to the line by redshirt senior
Trinity Slocum and Holliday to give the team its first lead of the day. This wouldn't last for long, however, as Southeastern answered with their biggest run of the game, a 9-0 swing that snatched the advantage right back. Some buckets late in the half by Wooten and redshirt senior
Torie Sevier helped to stem this tide, but the team still found itself back trailing by four going into the locker room.
The big swing in the game came in the third period, as after the two squads traded baskets over the first two minutes, the Islanders would proceed to rip off an incredible 15-0 run, flipping the game right on its head and not only regaining the lead but increasing it all the way up to double digits. This stretch started with a driving layup from Shelton, and what came after was a three-point barrage, with Wooten drilling the first one and Walker following with two of her own in a span of 25 seconds that forced Southeastern to call timeout. The scoring didn't stop here either, as Wooten came right back out of the stoppage with a layup of her own and Holliday capped off the run with a bucket in the paint to bring the score to 51-41 in favor of the Islanders.
By the time the third had ended, A&M-Corpus Christi had outscored the Lady Lions by a mark of 22-5, holding them to a paltry 2-14 shooting from the field while knocking down nine of 16 shots on the other end. This set the team up very well heading into the home stretch, where it would continue to extend this advantage, going up as high as 16 with eight minutes to go. Southeastern did claw its way back into the game, getting to within two after drilling a three with just 11 seconds to go, but the Islanders managed to hold in the waning moments, going up three on a Shelton free throw and then forcing the visitors into a desperation heave that came up short as the clock expired.
The Islanders managed to pull out the victory thanks to a number of different standout performances, most notably from Holliday, who tied for the team lead in scoring with 16 points while also securing game-highs in rebounds with 11 and blocks with four. This marked Holliday's second double-double of the season, with the first coming with a 15-point, 15-rebound performance against Oral Roberts on November 26. In addition, this was also the most blocks by an Islander in a game this season, and it matched her own career-high that she accomplished previously on January 25 of last year while playing for West Georgia.
After Holliday, the team also got two other players in double figures, with Wooten also reaching 16 points and Walker pouring in 13 while knocking down a trio of three-pointers. Despite not reaching that mark, Slocum also managed to impact the game in a huge way, scoring six while also securing six rebounds and dishing out 10 assists while only turning the ball over twice. This was the most assists that Slocum has ever recorded in a game in her five-year collegiate career, and it matched Wooten's mark against College of Biblical Studies on November 3 as the most in a game for the team this season.
The Islanders will now try to keep things rolling in the last game of their homestand, hosting UTRGV on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the second leg of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union.
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