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Wednesday, January 3, 2001

Late lapse dooms Islanders women
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi comes up short against Wyoming, 72-70
By Matt Young
Caller-Times

Caller-Times File

A&M-Corpus Christi’s Detra Johnson, shown playing against North Texas, scored 22 points against Wyoming during the Islanders’ 72-70 road loss to the Cowgirls on Tuesday.

LARAMIE, Wyo. - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team played one of its best games of the season for more than 39 minutes Tuesday, but the last 22 seconds were a nightmare.
   In the last 22 seconds, Christy Bacon drove the lane for an easy go-ahead layup and the Islanders responded by throwing the ball away as time expired to give Wyoming a 72-70 win at the Multi-Purpose Gym.
   Trailing by five with a minute left, A&M-Corpus Christi tied up the score at 70-70 after a Jessie Monlux 3-pointer and a turnaround jumper by Detra Johnson with 22 seconds remaining.
   After a Wyoming timeout, Bacon got the ball on the wing against A&M-Corpus Christi's zone defense. Bacon drove towards the free-throw line and found open sailing to the basket for the go-ahead left-handed layup with six seconds left.
   "I got the ball and saw the open lane, so I took it," Bacon said. "No one played defense on me, so I drove to the hole. I was surprised because they had been playing tough defense on me the whole game, but no one really picked me up on that last play. I'm pretty good at layups - I guess everyone is - and they gave me a layup to win the game."
   With no timeouts remaining, the Islanders inbounded the ball to point guard Mandie Vinck, who drove downcourt and found Johnson open five feet in front of the basket. Vinck fired an entry pass to Johnson in the lane, but the pass sailed high off Johnson's fingertips as time expired.
   "We had a classic 3-on-2 fast break on our last play, and we messed it up," Islander coach Sheryl Estes said. "We had Rocky (Grayson) on one side and Detra on the other, but we threw the ball away."
   The lack of defense on Bacon's game-winner and the turnover on the final possession soured what had been a well-played game by the Islanders.
   "We played well for most of the game, but we just gave them the game on the last two possessions," Estes said. "On Wyoming's last basket, we were in an extended zone defense. I don't think I've ever in my life seen someone drive all the way to the hole on an extended zone defense. We have two guards that are supposed to trap her up top, they didn't. Then we have two post players down low that are supposed to step up and stop her penetration, they didn't. We had four people that could have stopped her, but none of them did."
   Wyoming (8-4) had four players score in double digits, led by Shelby Hoffman's 18 points, which included four 3-pointers. Johnson led A&M-Corpus Christi (7-8) with 22 points. Jean Clark added 17 for the Islanders.
   Despite the loss, the Islanders committed just 12 turnovers and shot the 46 percent from the field, both vast improvements over their previous performances.
   "We did play well," Estes said. "We shot the ball a lot better than we had been, but mental mistakes cost us the game. It was good to see a strong effort, but we still didn't get it done at the end."



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

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