Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Islanders hack through USA Elite for victory

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

Published by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY

Saturday, November 10, 2001
Islanders hack through USA Elite for victory
A&M-Corpus Christi women win foul-plagued game, 77-42, in exhibition season closer
By Matt Young

Caller-Times
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball coach Sheryl Estes would have liked for her team to be able to use its last exhibition game as a way to hone its skills on the offensive and defensive end.
   Instead, the Islanders spent more time working on their free throws as they slugged their way through a foul-plagued 77-42 win over the NWBL USA Elite on Friday at Memorial Coliseum.
   The first half was especially foul-heavy as both teams managed to attempt more free throws (26) than field goals made (23). Things got so bad that Estes considered asking the officials to go easy on the whistles the rest of the way, even though her team was the bigger beneficiary at the free-throw line.
   "We really wanted to play a little more; get a few more possessions on offense instead of going to the free-throw line so much," Estes said. "There was so much stopping and starting out there with the fouls that it was hard to get in a rhythm."
   The Elite, which brought just nine players, had two players foul out late in the contest.
   The game's pace picked up a bit in the second half as the teams combined for 38 fouls in the game.
   The seemingly non-stop whistles can't be completely blamed on the officials as the Elite featured a team of bruisers that seemed more willing to bang than run.
   "Gosh, they had some big girls," A&M-Corpus Christi forward Anna Hartzell said. "It was really physical, but we were able to run on them, because they didn't get down the court as quickly as us."
   The difference in team speed and conditioning was noticeable early as the Islanders raced out to a 26-6 lead in the game's first 10 minutes. The Elite would never cut the lead any smaller than 15 points the rest of the way, and never came within 23 points in the second half.
   Although the Elite had some big post players, they were no match for the Islanders post players who are adept at running the floor. Kristin Rogers led the Islanders with 19 points, despite playing just 15 minutes. Rogers left the game early in the second half, because she felt ill.
   Hartzell did most of the damage after Rogers left, finishing with 16 points, 15 rebounds and five assists.
   "We're good in transition as a team, and our post players are quick, so we got a lot of easy baskets in transition out there," Hartzell said. "A lot of the post players were getting layups out of transition."
   A&M-Corpus Christi also did a good job on defense, limiting the Elite to 23 percent shooting from the field. Beverly Williams and Donna Roper, two former All-Southwest Conference performers at Texas and Texas A&M, respectively, combined to shoot just 5 for 26. Williams, who also had a short stint with the WNBA's Indiana Fever, led her team with 10 points.
   The easy exhibition win was the final tuneup for the Islanders before they open the regular season against Rice on Nov. 17 at the coliseum. A&M-Corpus Christi won its only two exhibition games by an average of 25 points per game.
   "I hope we're ready for Rice, but I know it's going to take a lot more preparation in practice to get ready for that team," Estes said. "Rice isn't going to be anything like the two teams we played already. They're really going to get after us on defense, and we better be prepared. The exhibitions are over, and hopefully we'll be ready."
   NWBL USA ELITE (42) -- Williams 4-14 2-4 10, Conley 2-13 2-4 6, Nickerson 0-2 0-0 0, Gray 1-3 0-2 2, Broussard 4-10 2-2 10, Brown 1-4 1-2 3, Miller 1-6 0-0 2, Roper 1-12 3-4 5, Moulton 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 16-69 10-18 42.
   TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (77) -- Hawkins 1-3 0-0 2, Hartzell 7-11 1-2 16, Smith 3-10 0-2 9, Rogers 6-9 7-8 19, Monlux 1-9 0-0 3, Vinck 2-3 2-2 6, Jones 0-1 0-1 0, Cornelius 0-3 2-2 2, Plaza 0-5 1-2 1, Gutierrez 1-4 0-0 2, Thompson 1-1 0-1 2, Bryant 4-7 0-0 10, Hartman 2-3 1-3 5. Totals 28-69 14-23 77.
   Halftime -- A&M-Corpus Christi 45, NWBL USA Elite 22. 3-point goals -- NWBL 0-14 (Roper 0-7, Conley 0-3, Williams 0-2, Miller 0-1, Nickerson 0-1), A&M-Corpus Christi 7-26 (Smith 3-7, Bryant 2-4, Hartzell 1-3, Monlux 1-7, Cornelius 0-2, Hawkins 0-1, Vinck 0-1). Fouled out -- NWBL, Gray, Broussard. Rebounds -- NWBL 50 (Broussard 10), A&M-Corpus Christi 56 (Hartzell 15). Assists -- NWBL 10 (Roper, Williams, Nickerson 2), A&M-Corpus Christi 24 (Hawkins 6). Total fouls -- NWBL 21, A&M-Corpus Christi 17.


Contact Matt Young at 886-3702 or youngm@caller.com

| Talk about this story | Next Story | Home |

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]

SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND