Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Monlux leads A&M-CC women to 68-42 win

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Friday, December 29, 2000

Monlux leads A&M-CC women to 68-42 win
Player comes off bench, scores career-high 17 points
By Matt Young
Caller-Times
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - When Jessie Monlux gets hot, not much can stop her. On Thursday, the only thing that stopped the sharpshooter was a pair of new shoes.
   Before suffering blisters on the bottom of her feet because of a pair of shoes that hadn't been broken in yet, Monlux shot the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team past Air Force 68-42 at Clune Arena.
   Monlux came off the bench to score a career-high 17 points, including 5 3-pointers, in just 17 minutes of action.
   "I don't think I was really in a zone or anything, Air Force was just leaving me open," said Monlux, who made five of her seven 3-point attempts. "Everyone knows if I'm open, I'm going to shoot."
   The blisters were a bad break for the junior-college transfer, who had struggled to find a spot in the Islanders' rotation lately. Monlux's 17 minutes against Air Force was more playing time than she's received in the past three games combined.
   A&M-Corpus Christi coach Sheryl Estes took out Monlux, who was limping badly, with 14 minutes left in the game. Monlux had just hit consecutive treys and didn't want to leave the game, but with a 49-25 lead, the Islanders didn't need her help any more.
   "She had some pretty bad blisters, and I didn't see any sense in pushing her with the big lead," Estes said. "We took her out and got our bench players some valuable playing time."
   Detra Johnson and Kristin Rogers also had strong games for the Islanders, finishing with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
   Rozalyn Russ' 13 points led Air Force, which dropped its sixth straight game.
   The Islanders cruised to the win despite starting slowly. Air Force jumped out to an 8-2 lead and held on to the lead for the game's first eight minutes.
   After the 8-2 run to start the game, the Falcons struggled mightily. After a Russ bucket gave Air Force the 8-2 lead, Air Force went the next 15 minutes without a field goal, missing nine straight shots. During that drought, the Falcons also went seven minutes without a point. While Air Force struggled, the Islanders scored 10 unanswered points and reeled off a 21-6 run that gave them a 23-14 lead with 3:37 remaining in the first half. After sticking the full-court press on the Falcons in the final minutes of the half, the Islanders took a 32-19 halftime lead.
   After the two teams traded baskets to start the second half, the Islanders peeled off an 11-0 run to turn the game into a laugher and put the Islanders ahead 47-23. Monlux keyed that run with back-to-back 3-pointers.
   Despite not starting the press until midway through the game, the Islanders forced Air Force into 31 turnovers. The Falcons also managed to shoot just 35 percent from the floor.
   "The press really bothered us, but that's because we lost concentration and focus," Air Force coach Sue Darling said. "Our players know what they have to do to beat a press like that, but they just didn't do it. It was a lack of concentration."
   The Islanders next game is at Denver at 3 p.m. Sunday.



Staff writer Matt Young can be reached at 886-3702 or by e-mail at youngm@caller.com

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