Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Islanders rout Belmont, 73-63

Marketplace \| Services \| Contact Us \| Community \| Arts & Entertainment \| Local Guides

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Friday, February 9, 2001

Islanders rout Belmont, 73-63
Monlux gets career-high 24 points
By Matt Young
Caller-Times

George Tuley/Caller-Times

A&M-CC's Jean Clark is forced to pass the ball under pressure from Belmont's Tara Montgomery (left) and Miranda Jones Thursday night.

Basketball teams can be deadly effective these days with complex motion offenses, but it's hard to beat an old-school, inside-out offense.
   The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team inside-outed Belmont to death in its 73-63 win Thursday night at Memorial Coliseum.
   Jessie Monlux played the "out" role for the Islanders with a career-high 24 points and five 3-pointers. Monlux's outside shooting opened up the inside for Detra Johnson, who pounded her way to 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
   "Belmont's zone defense was leaving the wings open, so that meant I had a lot of open looks from outside," Monlux said. "I was open and I wanted the ball, because I was feeling really confident out there."
   Monlux's barrage forced Belmont to rush to the perimeter a little quicker, which allowed Johnson to do her damage underneath.
   "Coaches told us that the post players were open, so they told us to post up big and call for the ball," Johnson said. "We like to get the ball deep and go to the hole strong when we get it down there."
   Belmont led just once in the game, but had a chance to take its second lead in the second half when Tara Montgomery got a steal at midcourt. But the Bruin point guard missed the layup at the other end.
   A&M-Corpus Christi capitalized on Belmont's mistake by then pounding the ball to Johnson, who scored eight points on A&M-Corpus Christi's next four possessions. A Jean Clark post move capped a 10-0 run by the Islanders that gave them a 49-37 lead with 8:50 remaining.
   "I made my first couple shots there, and my confidence picked up, and I wanted the ball," Johnson said. "Once I started rolling, I was feeling real good with the ball down low."
   Belmont mounted a mini-surge, cutting the lead to 50-43, but Monlux buried the Bruins with a quick scoring barrage. Monlux piled up eight points, including two 3-pointers, in 70 seconds.
   When Monlux was finished, so were the Bruins, facing a 60-46 deficit with 4:50 remaining.
   "Jessie played a great game," A&M-Corpus Christi coach Sheryl Estes said. "She got some open looks, and she's not afraid to shoot when she gets those kinds of looks from 3-point range."

   BELMONT (10-13) - Mitchell 7-15 1-3 15, Campbell 2-5 1-2 5, Jones 4-6 1-2 10, White 1-5 0-0 3, Montgomery 2-11 7-10 12, Poe 0-1 0-0 0, Teeples 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 6-9 1-1 14, Schueler 1-4 0-0 2, Carter 0-0 0-0 0, Pope 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS 24-57 11-18 63 TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (12-11) -- Smith 0-4 6-10 6, Rogers 3-11 0-1 6, Clark 4-10 1-2 9, Vinck 2-5 0-2 4, Monlux 9-15 1-2 24, Cornelius 0-0 0-0 0, Hawkins 0-1 1-2 1, Hartzell 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 6-9 3-4 15, Bryant 0-0 0-0 0, Grayson 3-6 2-2 8. TOTALS 27-61 14-25 73
   Halftime-Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 25, Belmont 23. 3-point goals-Belmont 4-15 (White 1-4, Montgomery 1-4, Brown 1-3, Jones 1-2, Mitchell 0-1, Poe 0-1), A&M-Corpus Christi 5-12 (Monlux 5-9, Smith 0-1, Hawkins 0-1, Vinck 0-1). Fouled out-none. Rebounds-Belmont 38 (Montgomery 7), A&M-Corpus Christi 37 (Smith 7). Assists-Belmont 14 (Montgomery 6), A&M-Corpus Christi 16 (Grayson 5). Total fouls-Belmont 21, A&M-Corpus Christi 18. A--1,090 (3,500).



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

| Talk about this story | Next Story | Home |

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]

SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND

[an error occurred while processing this directive]