NEW ORLEANS – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team dropped the first game of its Louisiana road trip to New Orleans on Thursday evening, going down to the wire but ultimately falling by a final score of 64-58.
After setting the all-time program record for three pointers made in a half in the opening stanza of their last game against the Privateers (2-20, 2-12 SLC), the Islanders (4-17, 3-11 SLC) did not have nearly as much luck to kick things off this time around, trading buckets early on but falling into a six-point hole at the break. The offense at the start of the game was powered primarily by seniors
Marissa Shelton and
K'Nari Holliday, with the two combining for 18 of the team's 22 points in the first half while shooting a combined 7-12 from the field. The rest of the team posted a mark of just 5-20, however, and New Orleans responded with 38 first-half points of its own, more than it had through three full quarters during the previous meeting on New Year's Eve.
Out of the break, the game shifted toward the defensive end, with the two scoring just 20 combined points in the third and neither shooting 30 percent from the field. Mixed in this time was the biggest run of the game from the Privateers, however, as they went on an 11-5 run at the end of this frame and the start of the fourth to put A&M-Corpus Christi in a game high 10-point hole with 7:01 left.
From here, the Islanders started to close the gap, immediately ripping off a 6-0 run that came via a layup from redshirt senior
Trinity Slocum, a pair of free throws from Shelton and a bucket by sophomore
Rayna Williams. Their deficit would get as low as two after Shelton drained another pair of free throws with 2:21 on the clock, but they could not get any closer, failing to score after this and seeing the Privateers ice the game away with a late bucket to wrap things up.
The biggest separating factor in the game was the turnover battle, with the Islanders giving it up 27 times while forcing just 16 on the other end. They also did not take advantage of the turnovers that they did manage to force, scoring only four points off Privateer giveaways while the hosts converted for 27 points off of theirs.
A&M-Corpus Christi had four different players reach double figures on the night, starting with a team-high 15 from Shelton on 3-8 shooting from the field and 7-8 from the line in just 21 minutes of action. The next closest for the Islanders was Holliday, who poured in 14 while also grabbing 11 rebounds to secure her team-leading fourth double-double of the year. After her was graduate
Chelsea Wooten, with the guard pitching in 12 points off the bench, and rounding out this group was Slocum, who like Holliday also reached a double-double with 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. This mark easily surpassed her previous best of 11, which she reached most recently all the way back on March 19, 2022 while playing for Whatcom Community College in her freshman campaign.
The Islanders will now try to finish off their road trip with a win on Saturday, when they travel to face Nicholls in Thibodaux at 1 p.m.
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