Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - A&M-CC women fall, 64-49

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

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Monday, January 1, 2001

A&M-CC women fall, 64-49
Denver jumps out, never gives up lead
By Matt Young
Caller-Times
DENVER - Any upset hopes the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team had were quickly extinguished by Denver's sharpshooting.
   Denver, which is considered a contender for the Sun Belt Conference title, knocked out the Islanders before halftime, finishing with a 64-49 win Sunday at Magness Arena.
   A&M-Corpus Christi trailed by as much as 24 points in the first half and never got any closer than 15 points the rest of the way. The 15-point margin actually put a pretty face on what was an ugly loss. The Islanders scored the game's final six points in the last 1:20 to make the final score look a bit more respectable. The Islanders hadn't been within 15 points since 5:51 left in the first half.
   "Thankfully, in the second half we had a much better effort, because it could've been much worse," said Islander coach Sheryl Estes, whose team actually outscored Denver, 27-19, in the second half. "The way the first half went, we could have lost this game by 40."
   The way Denver shot the ball in the first half, a 40-point win certainly didn't seem out of the question. The Pioneers opened the game hitting seven of its first nine 3-point attempts. Denver shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, while the Islanders struggled and shot just 28 percent. Denver's hot hand gave the Pioneers a 45-22 halftime lead.
   The Pioneers finished the game shooting 9 of 21 from the arc. A&M-Corpus Christi missed all 11 of its 3-point attempts.
   "I thought the first 20 minutes were really, really strong," Denver coach Pam Tanner said. "We did some great things. We shot the ball well and played well as a team. But, as well as we played in the first 20 minutes, we played just as poorly in the second half. For us to finish with just 19 points in the second half is pretty ugly." The way Denver played in the first half, the Pioneers barely even needed to show up for the second. Ashley Atkinson led Denver (8-4) with 18 points, 16 of those coming in the first half.
   Detra Johnson led A&M-Corpus Christi (7-7) with 14 points.
   Atkinson slammed the door on A&M-Corpus Christi before the Islanders could even get out of the gate.
   Both teams struggled to start the game and the Pioneers had just an 11-5 lead after nine minutes before Atkinson caught fire. Atkinson poured in four 3-pointers on the Pioneers' next five possessions. When Atkinson's barrage was finished the Islanders were trailing 25-10 with 9:10 remaining in the half.
   The rest of the half only got uglier for the Islanders. After Atkinson knocked A&M-Corpus Christi down, the rest of the Pioneers kicked the Islanders while they were down. Denver would go on to add three more trifectas in the half, including one more from Atkinson, and close the half with an 18-6 run to take a 45-22 halftime lead.
   "DU's got a really good shooting team, but we've got to have a better effort than that," Estes said. "It seems to be a trend with this team. Whenever we miss our first few shots, we just don't play with intensity on offense or defense. We've got to be mentally stronger than that."



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]