CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team was unable to end its homestand with its second win in a row on Thursday afternoon, falling victim to a second-half slide and getting taken down by UTRGV by a final score of 61-49 in the second leg of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union.
Much like in the first edition of the Showdown back on January 3, the Islanders (3-14, 2-8 SLC) and the Vaqueros (10-9, 7-3 SLC) were evenly matched throughout the majority of Thursday's contest, with neither team winning any of the first three quarters by more than five points. It was the hosts that got things started on the right foot in the first of these, as after falling behind 12-4 early on, A&M-Corpus Christi would proceed to rip off 14 of the final 19 points of the frame to turn its deficit into a lead through the first 10 minutes. Graduate
Chelsea Wooten got this stretch started with a make from three-point range, and right after, senior
K'Nari Holliday would find her own rhythm, getting a pair of shots to fall and getting to the line to finish the frame with eight points and four rebounds.
The Islanders would go on to grow their lead in the second quarter, overcoming what was a tough offensive period by cranking up their defensive intensity, holding UTRGV to 5-19 shooting and just 1-6 from behind the arc. This included two different long dry spells, as the Vaqueros went three full minutes without putting any points on the board after their first bucket of the period and then two more minutes until their next one after that. Near the end of the frame, A&M-Corpus Christi did manage to put together its biggest scoring run of the night in this frame, ripping off eight straight points on a second chance bucket and a free throw from sophomore
Rayna Williams, a layup from Holliday and a transition three by senior
Marissa Shelton to help go into the break with a three-point advantage.
The defense was still stifling on both sides once the action got back underway, with the two combining for 19 points in total across the third quarter. Unfortunately for the Islanders, they were on the short end of the exchange this time, as they managed to tally only seven despite holding the Vaqueros to 5-16 shooting and 0-5 from deep on the other side. These struggles offensively continued into the final period, at which point UTRGV finally found their own groove again, scoring 21 points in the fourth to pull away for good.
Like in their previous matchup, the Islanders ended up shooting a better percentage from both the field and from distance than the Vaqueros, posting figures of 35.8 and 35.3 percent as opposed to 33.9 and 29.4 percent from the visitors. The biggest swing the other way came from the line, as A&M-Corpus Christi shot just eight free throws and made five as opposed to 14 makes on 19 tries by UTRGV.
Individually, Holliday led the way for the second game in a row, finishing her day with 16 points on 5-11 shooting while also grabbing 11 rebounds and picking up two blocks. This was Holliday's second double-double in a row after posting 16 points and 11 rebounds against Southeastern last Saturday, and it brought her total for the year up to a team-leading three. Two other players for the team finished in double figures, with Wooten posting 11 while dishing out eight assists and Williams finishing with the same amount to set her new high in an Islanders uniform while also coming just one rebound short of her second double-double of the year.
The Islanders will now make a quick trip up north, heading up to San Antonio to take on UIW on Saturday at 1 p.m. before heading right back home next week.
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