Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Islanders blow out Bearkats

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Tuesday, January 30, 2001

Islanders blow out Bearkats
A&M-CC gets off to quick start in lopsided 88-61 win
By Matt Young
Caller-Times
HUNTSVILLE - Games are rarely decided in the first seven minutes of play, but that's all the time it took for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team to close the book on Sam Houston State.
   The Islanders whipped Sam Houston State 88-61 Monday at Johnson Coliseum, but the final score was just a formality after A&M-Corpus Christi opened the game by blowing the Bearkats' doors off.
   Before many of the fans had even settled into their seats, the Islanders already had run off to a 17-2 lead - with 12:50 still left in the first half. A&M-Corpus Christi did it with a thieving defense that led to easy layups on the other end. In that run, Sam Houston State committed seven turnovers, which the Islanders converted into eight points off layups.
   "We played really good defense to start the game, and that got us on a roll," A&M-Corpus Christi coach Sheryl Estes said. "We got some steals and that got us into our fast break. We did an excellent job of executing on the break."
   Kendra Smith, who led the Islanders with a career-high 16 points, was a key to that quick start, hitting a 3-pointer on A&M-Corpus Christi's first possession.
   "We were focused on getting off to a good start just like any other game, but we came out and executed right from the start," said Smith, who finished with 16 points. "We were really concentrating on running back-door screens and getting easy shots."
   If A&M-Corpus Christi wasn't getting layups off the fast break, it was finding layups in the half-court offense by running back door on the Bearkats.
   "Coming into the game, I felt like we hadn't been looking back door enough, so it was something I emphasized in practice before the game," Estes said. "Then, Sam Houston was playing real aggressive defense, trying to deny the ball, so the back door was just wide open a lot for us."
   Usually, a big early lead can be salted away with a couple quick runs by the opposition. But the Bearkats never showed they had a run in them. The early 15-point lead proved to be no aberration as it only grew larger as the game went along. By the end of the first half, A&M-Corpus Christi led by 22 points, 43-21.
   It only got worse for the Bearkats in the second half as A&M-Corpus Christi built its lead to as much as 35. Sam Houston's only run of the game came in the final minute when it scored the final eight points of the game to avoid the 30-point loss.
   "We fell behind early and never seemed to be able to get anything going," Sam Houston coach Erika Notzke Ritter said. "You have to give credit to Corpus Christi, because they came out hot and never let up on us. They never let us get in the game."
   About the only thing that went right for Sam Houston (4-14) was Stacy Allen, who had a game-high 20 points.
   The rout allowed A&M-Corpus Christi to play plenty of players, which meant the Islanders had five different players score in double figures. Smith's 16 points were followed by Jean Clark's 12, 11 each from Jessie Monlux and Keisha Cornelius and 10 from Detra Johnson. Reserve point guard ShaKayla Hawkins also posted a career-high 8 points and 7 assists.
   A&M-Corpus Christi shot a season-high 55.6 percent from the floor in the game. That was a big relief for the Islanders, who have had problems getting the ball to go down all season. Coming into the game, A&M-Corpus Christi was shooting just 41 percent this season.
   "We did a good job of taking care of business inside with our post players and with layups," Estes said. "That's why our percentage was so high, because we were getting easy shots, and that's the way our offense should work."

   TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (11-11) -- Vinck 1-3 0-0 2, Smith 6-10 2-2 16, Rogers 4-7 1-2 9, Monlux 5-12 1-6 11, Clark 5-8 2-3 12, Cornelius 4-6 0-0 11, Hawkins 4-6 0-0 8, Hartzell 0-2 0-1 0, Plaza 1-1 3-4 5, Johnson 4-7 2-4 10, Bryant 1-1 2-2 4. TOTALS 35-63 13-24 88
   SAM HOUSTON (4-14) -- Allen 7-15 2-4 20, Wells 1-4 0-1 2, Allison 6-11 4-5 17, Abakwue 6-15 2-2 14, Villanueva 3-50-0 6, Holcomb 0-1 0-0 0, Simmons 1-2 0-0 2. TOTALS 24-53 8-12 61 Halftime-Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 43, Sam Houston 20. 3-point goals-A&M-Corpus Christi 5-11 (Cornelius 3-3, Smith 2-4, Vinck 0-1, Hawkins 0-1, Hartzell 0-1), Sam Houston 5-11 (Allen 4-8, Allison 1-2, Villanueva 0-1). Fouled out-none. Rebounds-A&M-Corpus Christi 30 (Rogers 6), Sam Houston 34 (Abakwue 12). Assists-A&M-Corpus Christi 29 (Hawkins 7), Sam Houston 18 (Wells 7). Total fouls-A&M-Corpus Christi 17, Sam Houston 17. A--461 (5,600).


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

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