SAN ANTONIO – In a very close matchup that came down to the wire, the University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team narrowly fell to Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, 63-61, on Saturday afternoon.
 
Aliyah Collins provided a much-needed spark for the Cardinals with 19 points off the bench, going 2-for-3 from 3-point land and 7-for-9 from the free throw line. Destiny Terrell dominated the boards, finishing with a solid double-double performance behind 12 points and 10 rebounds. Nina De Leon Negron added 10 points and six rebounds.
 
The top two defensive teams in the Southland Conference went head-to-head holding each other to a 16-9 first quarter with the Islanders coming out on top.
 
TAMU – CC scored 19 points in the second quarter, their largest quarter of the night, to hold a 35-24 lead heading into halftime.
 
The Cardinals cut the deficit to ten points at the end of the third. A jumper from Myra Bell handed UIW a 48-41 edge before the Islanders closed out the quarter with a 3-pointer and a 51-41 lead.
 
Five minutes left in the game was when the Cardinals began to claw back, starting with a layup from Raimi McCrary which was followed by free throws from Bell and DeLeon to cut the score to 55-53.
 
The referees consulted replay and sent Collins to the free throw line, bringing the score to 58-54 before she attacked the basket on a driving layup that made it a two-point game (58-56) with 1:30 left.
 
UIW had a buzzer-beater look with nine seconds left and down two points, but were unable to score and narrowly lost the game, 63-61.
 
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