SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – A furious fourth quarter came up a hair short for the University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team on Wednesday night.  The Cardinals lost 57-56 to visiting Southland Conference rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the McDermott Center.

The Cardinals (5-13, 2-5) trailed the Islanders (6-13, 3-5), 52-37 with 9:43 remaining in the game after Brittany Mbamalu knocked down a pair free throws.  The comeback was kick started by a three-pointer from Haley Frias (Georgetown/Georgetown HS) and then a steal by Melina Merritt (Round Rock/Cedar Ridge HS) led directly to a layup from Quincy Baker (Houston/Klein Forest HS) off a pass from Frias.  Yvonne Maosa (Arlington/Mansfield HS) cut the Corpus Christi lead to 52-45 after a conventional three-point play with 7:01 remaining.

The Islanders finally scored on a fast break layup by Uri Jolivette to push the lead back to nine points.  Baker scored the next time down the floor and then an Aricka Adams (Round Rock/Round Rock HS) steal led to a pair of free throws for the guard who drained the both.  Two more defensive stops from the Cardinals kept them in the game and then Frias drained a three-pointer with 3:34 remaining followed by a Baker free throw line jumper to tie the game the next trip down the floor.

The Islanders went back in front with 1:36 to play when Mbamalu hit a pair of free throws after grabbing an offensive rebound.  UIW did not score, but Adams came up with a big steal and was fouled in the process.  She knocked down both free throws to tie the game at 56-56 with 1:10 left.  Both teams came up with a defensive stop and Mbamalu was fouled again after pulling down a defensive rebound with nine ticks remaining.  She made 1-of-2 to take the lead.  Adams missed a long shot, but Maosa grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled.  She was unable to convert eight foul shot, but UIW had one last chance with 1.3 seconds remaining after the ball was knocked out of bounds.  The Cardinals lobbed a pass up to Baker in the middle of the lane and she was able to make the catch and get the shot off while surrounded by defenders.  The jumper rolled around the rim and fell off leaving the Islanders to celebrate the victory.

The Cardinals shot 39.6 percent from the field, made 5-of-21 from three-point range and were 9-of-12 at the foul line.  Maosa finished with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting from the field.  Adams added 16 points, six rebounds and four assists.  The team committed five more turnovers and had three fewer rebounds than the Islanders.

A&M-Corpus Christi shot 39.0 percent from the field, made 4-of-15 from three-point range and were 7-of-12 at the foul line.  Mbamalu led the team with 15 points and six rebounds while Kassie Jones added 15 points and four steals off the bench.  Jolivette chipped in 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor.  Shola Adebayo led the team with eight rebounds.

The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday at 2 p.m. at home against Nicholls.
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