Game Highlights
Game Replay
Photo GalleryKATY, Texas – Eighth-seeded HBU held fourth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi scoreless for 9:27 in the second half as the Huskies took control with a 14-0 run, but they had to hold off a charge by the Islanders for a 49-48 victory in the second round of the Southland Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Friday at the Merrell Center.
The Huskies will face top-seeded Stephen F. Austin in the semifinals Saturday at 1 p.m., which will be shown live on ESPN3.
Senior forward
Erin McGarrachan recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while junior guard
Rachel Arthur added 13 points and four rebounds for HBU (14-17). Senior guard
Tayler Jefferson had 10 points and four boards, and junior forward
Anna Strickland chipped in with nine boards and a pair of blocks.
Kassie Jones scored 13 points and dished out four assists, while Camesha Davis had 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Islanders (16-14). Olivia Fouty had eight points and five boards, and Shay Weaver had six points, six rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.
HBU shot 37.5 percent from the field, 2-for-8 from 3-point range, and 5-for-9 from the free throw line, while holding TAMU-CC to 29.5 percent, 4-for-13 from behind the arc, and 8-for-12 from the stripe. The Huskies outrebounded the Islanders, 43-40.
"Give credit to Corpus – they came back and hit some big shots in the last couple of minutes, but we stuck with it defensively," HBU head coach
Donna Finnie said. "It was a team effort again, everyone did their part defensively, and I'm really proud of all of them."
The Huskies led 6-5 on a jumper in the paint by Neal, but the Islanders got a putback by Fouty and a pair of free throws by Weaver to lead by three. Davis drove in for a layup that gave TAMU-CC a 15-10 lead with 8:40 remaining, but Jefferson answered with a three and McGarrachan hit a turnaround jumper to tie it with 5:40 left. Fouty broke a scoring drought of more than three minutes and regained the lead for the Islanders by banking a jumper off the glass.
McGarrachan drove in for a floater off the glass to tie to it up, but Fouty answered with another layup to put TAMU-CC back up by two. Jefferson drilled another three to give the Huskies a one-point lead, but Weaver and Jones each knocked down a pair of free throws, then Jones knocked down a jumper before the horn to give the Islanders a 25-20 lead at the break.
HBU shot 32.1 percent in first half, 2-for-2 from 3-point range, and 0-for-2 from the line, while TAMU-CC shot only 30.0 percent, 1-for-7 from behind the arc and 6-for-6 from the line.
Fouty opened the second half scoring with a short jumper to extend the Islanders' advantage to seven, but the Huskies got baskets from Stickland and Jefferson to get back within three. Jennifer Ramirez hit a three to put TAMU-CC ahead by six, but Arthur drove in for a pair of layups to cut the deficit to two with 14:38 to go.
Arthur tied the game on a layup with, but couldn't hit the free throw to finish a potential three-point play. Sophomore guard
Heidi Sihvola drove the baseline and found McGarrachan cutting to the hoop for a layup that gave the Huskies their first lead of the second half at the 10:43 mark, but neither team scored again until Sihvola sank a pair of free throws with 7:23 left to put HBU ahead, 40-36.
Neal drove the baseline for a reverse layup, a miss by Fouty led to a fastbreak finish by Jefferson and McGarrachan hit another turnaround jumper to cap a 14-0 run that put the Huskies up by 10 with 5:12 remaining.
Davis's three with 3:54 to go broke a 9:27 scoring drought for the Islanders, then Jones nailed a trey to slice the Huskies' lead to four. Arthur hit a pair of free throws for HBU with 2:44 on the clock, but Jones answered with a 15-footer and Ramirez made a pair of free throws with 1:31 left to make it a two-point game. After McGarrachan was called for an offensive foul, Jones drove and missed a layup and McGarrachan came down with the rebound.
Arthur made one of two from the line with 32 seconds to go to give the Huskies a three-point lead, but Weaver found Davis for a layup to make it a one-point game with 10 seconds to go. TAMU-CC stole the inbounds pass, but missed a layup and retained possession when the ball went out of bounds with 4.4 seconds showing on the clock. Jones took the inbounds pass, drove to just below the free throw line, pulled up for a jumper, but Neal swatted it away at the buzzer to set off the Huskies' on-court celebration.
The Huskies are making their first-ever appearance at the conference tournament in their second year in the league.
