Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Bad shooting proves disastrous for Isles

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

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Sunday, January 21, 2001

Bad shooting proves disastrous for Isles
Women slide to two games under .500 after dropping a 74-61 loss at Belmont
By Matt Young
Caller-Times
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team reached a first, but it got there by a familiar route - poor shooting.
   The Islanders dropped to two games under .500 for the first time this season after another bad shooting day was their undoing in a 74-61 loss to Belmont at Striplin Gym.
   A&M-Corpus Christi (9-11) shot 34 percent from the field for the game, but the second half really told the tale. The Islanders shot just 29 percent after intermission, while Belmont (7-9) lit it up at a 61 percent clip in the half.
   "We've got to have more confidence when we're shooting the ball," A&M-Corpus Christi coach Sheryl Estes said. "We're getting good shots, but we're not getting them to fall, and that's been a problem all season. It's a matter of confidence, and we're not shooting with much confidence right now."
   The overall poor shooting performance spoiled a career-high 25 points for Kristin Rogers. Islander guard Jessie Monlux, who scored 14 points, set an Islander record with 7 steals in the loss.
   While A&M-Corpus Christi had trouble getting any shots to fall, Belmont pounded the ball inside for easy shots. Center Chasity Campbell led the way with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Miranda Jones added 14, most of which came in the paint.
   The game went back and forth in the first half, but Belmont took over with a healthy dose of Campbell and Jones in the second half. The turning point came early in the second half when Islander center Jean Clark picked up her fourth foul with her team trailing 32-29 and 18:33 remaining.
   "When Clark got into foul trouble, we decided we'd start hammering the ball in the middle, because we knew they couldn't be as aggressive with us," Belmont coach Tony Cross said. "We started getting the ball to Chasity, and they had trouble stopping her."
   After picking up her fourth foul, Clark sat out for 11 minutes. By the time Clark re-entered the game, the Islanders trailed 58-47 with 7:33 remaining. Belmont scored 26 points in the 11 minutes it didn't have to deal with Clark in the middle.
   "Jean's our best post defender, and when she left our other post players didn't do a good job at all on defense," Estes said. "I'll have to say that surprised me a little bit, that we didn't do a better job defensively inside."
   When Belmont wasn't scoring in the post, it was lighting it up at the free-throw line. The Bruins shot 92 percent (23-25) from the line.
   "Belmont's a very good team and very disciplined," Estes said. "They shot the ball extremely well from everywhere on the floor, and we didn't shoot the ball well at all."

   TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (9-11) - Johnson 3-10 1-1 8, Smith 1-3 0-0 3, Rogers 9-20 7-9 25, Vinck 0-1 2-2 2, Monlux 5-14 1-2 14, Cornelius 0-4 0-0 0, Hawkins 0-2 0-0 0, Plaza 0-1 1-2 1, Clark 3-7 0-1 6, Bryant 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS 22-64 12-17 61
   BELMONT (7-9) - Mitchell 4-6 2-2 10, Jones 5-8 4-4 14, Campbell 9-12 5-5 23, White 0-5 1-2 1, Montgomery 1-5 8-8 10, Poe 0-1 0-0 0, Teeples 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 6-10 3-4 16, Schubeler 0-0 0-0 0, Carter 0-0 0-0 0, Pope 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 25-47 23-35 74 Halftime - Belmont 30, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 27. 3-point goals - A&M-Corpus Christi 5-20 (Monlux 3-10, Johnson 1-4, Smith 1-2, Hawkins 0-2, Rogers 0-1, Cornelius 0-1), Belmont 1-6 (Brown 1-1, White 0-3, Jones 0-1, Montgomery 0-1). Fouled out - A&M-Corpus Christi, Clark, Monlux. Rebounds - A&M-Corpus Christi 29 (Rogers 6), Belmont 37 (White 8). Assists - A&M-Corpus Christi 13 (Smith 3), Belmont 21 (White 9). Total fouls - A&M-Corpus Christi 25, Belmont 14. A--229 (3,000).



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]