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Friday, January 5, 2001

Islanders falling short of their goals
A&M-CC team must finish 11-1 to reach 18 victories
By Matt Young
Caller-Times
Before the season, several Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball players debated on the number of wins they should set as a goal for the season.
   A few players wanted to aim high and make 20 wins the goal. Other players weren't as optimistic, so after some haggling, the goal was set at 18.
   As it turns out, even that may have been too high.
   Beginning with its game against Loyola (Chicago) at 7 p.m. today at Memorial Coliseum, A&M-Corpus Christi (7-8) will have to win 11 of its last 12 games to reach the 18-win plateau.
   "We're definitely going to have to win a lot of games," Islander coach Sheryl Estes said. "We've already talked to the players about it. They set these goals before the season, and they have some work to do if they're going to reach them."
   Finishing the season 11-1 isn't out of the realm of possibility, considering the Islanders' schedule the rest of the way. After today's game against Loyola (Chicago) and Sunday's game against San Diego State, A&M-Corpus Christi plays teams that it already beat last year.
   Before the Islanders can think that far ahead, however, Estes said her team needs to focus on this three-game homestand, which finishes with Texas-Pan American on Jan. 13.
   "These three home games against Loyola, San Diego State and Pan American will be real important for us," Estes said. "We just came off a tough road trip, and we need to refocus. We need to play well and get our confidence back."
   A&M-Corpus Christi's confidence may have taken a hit after going 1-2 on its last road trip. The Islanders started the trip by crushing Air Force, but came home licking their wounds after consecutive losses to Denver and Wyoming. The loss to Wyoming was particularly painful, as a couple of Islanders' miscues in the final seconds led to the Cowgirls 72-70 win.
   "The Wyoming loss hurt, because we felt like we kind of gave them the game at the end," Estes said. "We just need to regroup and focus on what's ahead of us."
   The Islanders will have to pick up the pace if they're even going to match their inaugural season's 14-12 record. This time last year, A&M-Corpus Christi was 8-7. No matter the records, Estes says this team is improved from last year.
   "I still believe we have more depth than last year, and we have virtually the same players playing most of the minutes," Estes said. "Because we didn't have much depth last season, I think that team may have had more chemistry than this team. But depth is always a good problem to have. We just need to find that chemistry and some leadership, and we'll be fine."
   Staff writer Matt Young can be reached at 886-3702 or by e-mail at youngm@caller.com

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