Late surge not enough as Lamar stops Islanders women in Southland semifinals
LAKE CHARLES, LA. — The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team rallied to stun Lamar once this season.
The Islanders women fought in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to single digits, but ran out of steam Wednesday in a 65-53 loss to the Cardinals in the Southland Conference Tournament semifinals.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (19-11), which shared the Southland regular season title with Southeastern Louisiana and earned the No. 2 seed, saw its run in the conference tournament cut short in the semifinals for the second straight season.
"I thought Lamar outplayed us," coach Royce Chadwick said. "They are a team that likes to get it going from the 3-point line, then get their post game established. If you let them establish both, they are very good.
"Today they shot 50% from the 3-point line and got their post game going. As coaches we have to do a better job preparing our players to know what they are trying to accomplish. We let their 3-point shooters get open 3s."
Lamar held the Islanders below 30% shooting in building as much as a 16-point lead.
A&M-Corpus Christi had an 8-0 charge that cut the deficit as close as eight points, but Lamar had enough down the stretch to beat the Islanders.
"I thought our fourth quarter was extremely electric with the tenacity our players showed and our drive, the way we fought back, we never got our head down and said, 'We don't have this," Chadwick said. "They kept battling and trying."
Senior Alecia Westbrook led the team with 13 points, but the Islanders had struggles in the paint, as numerous shots missed the mark from short range.
Every time the Islanders made a charge, the Cardinals got timely 3-pointers as Lamar connected on nine triples after building its lead early on inside play from R'Mani Taylor (17 points) and Akasha Davis (12).
Wednesday's highlights
The Islanders found success early as designed plays and inbound passes found their target for easy looks, including a second pass to Hayle Campbell that gave the Islanders a 15-14 lead.
But several times, even when the ball got in short range the Islanders misfired or got unfriendly bounces on the rim.
Lamar closed the first quarter on a 5-0 run to lead 19-15 after the opening 10 minutes and finished the first half on a 13-5 surge to build an eight-point lead at halftime.
The Cardinals locked down and held A&M-Corpus Christi to 3 of 14 shooting and eight points in the third quarter and instead of the Islanders making a run, Lamar created separation.
By the time the Islanders started a charge, the lead had ballooned to 16 points.
Wednesday's stars
Westbrook paced Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Violeta Verano added 10 points, but the Lamar defense limited the Islanders to 29% shooting.
Makinna Serrata, Jaeda Whitner and Paige Allen all added six points for A&M-Corpus Christi.
Malay McQueen and R'Mani Taylor each scored 17 points for Lamar, with McQueen hitting five 3-pointers to pace the Cardinals outside shooting.
What the players said
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Alecia Westbrook on what was challenging about Lamar's defense: "They were more aggressive than us. They played defense differently than they did last game, especially in the low post. They gave us a new look and we did not handle it."
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Violeta Verano on the difference in the game: "We only played our best game in the fourth quarter. If we want to improve on that, we need to start locking in and playing like we are capable."
What the coaches said:
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Royce Chadwick on the team missing early looks up close: "I thought we were off balanced a little and we went in there looking to go to the free throw line, when we should have gone in there making sure we made the basket, hoping to get the foul call. We were expecting to go to the free throw line and it is March, you just play. We gave them tons of free throws and we didn't get ourselves there."
Lamar's Aqua Davis on withstanding the Islanders' fourth-quarter surge: "That was another test. They did the exact same thing at their place. We were up 15 and we only won by three. We finally passed that test. We didn't let it get that close. We have some people that really want the basketball. From the time we played them at their place and the time we played them at home, we've really matured as a team."
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Late surge not enough as Lamar stops Islanders women in semifinals
