CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team fell to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 56-50, on Saturday afternoon, but clinched a spot in the 2020 Hercules Tires Southland Conference Basketball Tournament when Abilene Christian defeated Central Arkansas. 
 
"In spite of the loss, I was pleased with how well we competed today offensively, defensively and on the boards," Cardinals' coach Jeff Dow said. "To be down by two with less than two minutes left in the game, on the road against Corpus certainly speaks to that. There is a reason they have 21 wins overall and are now 15-3 in conference. They are outstanding defensively and typically don't give up anything easy. I'd like to think we gained some confidence from today that we now know we can compete with any team in the league, it was encouraging to see us put forth another great effort on the boards for the third game in a row."
 
Going into the matchup, UIW (14-13, 10-8 SLC) needed to beat TAMU-CC (21-7, 15-3 SLC), or get some help from Abilene Christian or New Orleans, to clinch a spot in the tournament. The Wildcats came through with their victory, securing a seed for the Cardinals. 
 
The first quarter of UIW's game against the Islanders saw the scoreboard tied four times as Imani Robinson went 2-2 in the paint, while Kara Speer and Macy Ray also made buckets inside the perimeter. UIW took its first lead at the end of the period when Robinson took a shot from the top of the key, making the first 3-pointer of the game and putting the Cardinals ahead, 12-10.
 
UIW, led by Lunden Henry under the basket, opened the second quarter on an 8-2 run to get ahead early on. The Islanders promptly responded with a 12-6 run to tie the game, eventually stealing the ball as the clock ran out and putting it away for a narrow, 26-24 lead at the half.
 
Robinson wasted no time in the second half, opening with a 3-pointer to take back the lead.
Corpus Christi went on a 10-2 run, earning its largest lead of the game, but a 7-0 Cardinal stretch knotted the score. The run consisted of L. Henry and Robinson both scoring in the paint, while Robinson also sunk a three. Still, the Islanders looked to get ahead and they did, leading 42-38 going into the fourth quarter.
 
The Cardinals went on a 7-4 run, highlighted by five points from Wiggins, to make it a one-point contest (46-45). Unfortunately, that is as close as the Cardinals could get as TAMU-CC closed out the game with a 10-5 run and the Cardinals were unable to catch up at the end.
 
NOTABLES

• Seniors Robinson and Henry led the Cardinals with 17 and 13 points, respectively.
• Henry went 6-8 from the field, while Robinson went 6-11 and shot 3-5 from 3-point range.
• Kara Speer and L. Henry both grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

 
UP NEXT
The Cardinals play their final road game of the season at Houston Baptist at 6:30 p.m. (CT) on Wednesday at Sharp Gym.
 
STAY TUNED 
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