SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team was edged, 60-58, in overtime by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday afternoon inside the McDermott Center.
Jaaucklyn Moore led the team in her first 20-point performance shooting 8-of-16 from the field.
"This was an extremely disappointing loss, and in particular, with how we lost," said head coach Jeff Dow. "On multiple occasions when we needed to come up with a stop or hold them to one shot, we couldn't do it."
"For us to only come up with seven offensive rebounds on our 39 combined misses speaks to how poorly we did on the o-boards. Losing the points in the paint battle, 30-20, and the second-chance points, 12-5, were very telling stats."
The first quarter was evenly matched but A&M-Corpus Christi got ahead off of their 41.7 percent shooting from the field to UIW's 18.8 percent to lead 16-10.
The Islanders got ahead by as much as 11 with a score of 22-11 midway through the second quarter. Moore's seven points over the course of the next four minutes alongside an and-1 from Tiana Gardner and the Cardinals got to within three with 1:28 left in the half. Still, the Islanders responded accordingly and were up, 28-23, at the break.
UIW came out of the locker room on an uphill climb fueled by an all-around team effort as five players contributed to the score to take back the lead for the first time since opening the game. Still, A&M-Corpus Christi answered the call heading into the fourth quarter with a one-possession lead, 37-34.
Things looked bleak as the Islanders were up by nine at the media break. The pause seemed to be just what the Cardinals needed as they broke out on an 11-0 run. Kara Speer's 3-pointer at the top of the key and a layup in the paint by Destiny Terrell, who drew the foul on the way up for the bonus point, followed by a pair of free throws, and UIW was up by one with 1:21 on the clock.
UIW's lead was short-lived as A&M-Corpus Christi's Makinna Serrata hit a 3-pointer immediately after, putting the Cardinals two back. It was a jumper in the paint by Moore that tied the game to send the game into overtime at 51-51.
The Cardinals' largest lead of the game came in the dwindling minutes of overtime as they jumped ahead, 58-54, with 1:26 remaining on the clock. The Islanders grabbed two clutch offensive boards to score on back-to-back possessions tying the game and shortly after took back the lead. Moore's shot with two seconds left in an attempt to tie the game was off the mark and UIW fell, 60-58, in overtime.
"We need to regroup quickly and have a competitive practice tomorrow to prepare for our rematch with Lamar on Monday."
UP NEXT
UIW plays its final two home games of the season on Monday, March 1 against Lamar and on Wednesday, March 3 against Houston Baptist before closing out the season at Abilene Christian on Saturday, March 6.
STAY TUNED
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