Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Islanders fall late to Aztecs, 67-59

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Monday, January 8, 2001

Islanders fall late to Aztecs, 67-59
Second-half collapse dooms A&M-CC in loss to San Diego State
By Matt Young
Caller-Times

George Gongora/Caller-Times

A&M-CC’s Kendra Smith (24) prepares to shoot as San Diego State’s Jamey Cox (right) defends during the Islanders’ 67-59 loss to the Aztecs on Sunday.

All it takes is one mental lapse to decide a game. On Sunday, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team suffered a five-minute lapse that proved fatal.
   The Islanders saw a small lead turn into a big deficit during that five-minute stretch as San Diego State ran past the Islanders 67-59 at Memorial Coliseum.
   San Diego State (8-5) had four players score in double digits, led by Jamey Cox and Sophia Sledge's 14 points apiece.
   With 14 minutes left in the game, A&M-Corpus Christi was up 39-37. Up until that point, the game was nip and tuck with 10 ties and no lead bigger than four points.
   That's when A&M-Corpus Christi lost focus and San Diego State took control. The Aztecs ripped off a 15-3 run in the next five minutes to take a 52-42 lead with 8:32 remaining. During that stretch, the Islanders committed five turnovers and gave up several offensive rebounds to San Diego State.
   "In the first half, I felt like (A&M-Corpus Christi) was outworking us, but I think we turned it around in the second half," San Diego State coach Barb Smith said. "When we took control of the game, we started turning the ball over less and started rebounding the ball a lot better. That was the difference."
   The Islanders got outrebounded 22-16 in the second half. After shooting 50 percent in the first half, A&M-Corpus Christi shot just 34 percent in the second half.
   "We just got outworked," said Kristin Rogers, who led the Islanders with 17 points. "The game was close, but then we just stopped crashing the boards as hard as we should have been, and that was probably the difference in the game."
   Islander coach Sheryl Estes said her team's lapse was due to a lack of focus.
   "We started giving them easy shots and at the same time we weren't executing on offense," Estes said. "We didn't take care of the ball. We didn't box out. That time span was the difference in the game, there's no doubt about that."
   Despit the Aztecs' run, the Islanders bounced back and had a chance to get back in the game a few minutes later. A&M-Corpus Christi scored six straight points to cut the gap to 56-51 with 4:12 remaining. After a failed San Diego State possession, the Islanders had a chance to cut the lead even further. During a timeout, A&M-Corpus Christi set up a play giving Kendra Smith a good look at a 3-pointer, but Smith's shot fell well short. San Diego State answered back in a big way when Jamey Cox stuck the dagger in the Islanders' heart with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Aztecs up by eight with 2:52 left.
   "We've really got to start focusing on the fundamental things of the game," Estes said. "We didn't do a lot of the small things right, and that's what cost us."

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