CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – It was déjà vu for HBU women's basketball as, for the second-straight game, seniors
Tayler Jefferson and
Erin McGarrachan led the scoring and the Huskies shot below 30 percent in the second half, in Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's 73-48 win over HBU Thursday afternoon from the American Bank Center.
Jefferson scored a game-high 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting, 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, and 1-for-2 from the charity stripe to lead HBU (11-17 overall, 5-12 SLC), who has now lost three straight. McGarrachan scored 15 points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. HBU shot 35 percent from the floor in the game.
TAMUCC (15-13, 11-6) had a double-double from Olivia Fouty (10 pts, 12 rbs) as five Islanders scored in double figures. Kassie Jones scored a team-high 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting and 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. The Islanders shot 43 percent from the floor in the contest.
TAMUCC scored 11 of the first 13 points following a trey by Shay Weaver at the 15:22-mark, forcing HBU to take a timeout.
A three-pointer by Jefferson cut the Huskies' deficit to five, 16-11, with 10:46 remaining in the opening half, but the Islanders used a 15-5 run in the next five minutes to increase their lead to 15.
Another trey by Jefferson brought the Huskies within 10, 39-29, with a minute to go, but Jones answered with her own triple with three seconds left on the clock as TAMUCC led HBU at the break, 42-29.
Jefferson led HBU with 13 first-half points, while Jones dropped 15 to lead TAMUCC. The Huskies shot 43 percent from the floor compared to 50 percent for the Islanders.
TAMUCC started the second half scoring the first six points of the first half.
Rachel Arthur tried to get the Huskies back into the game, as she scored a fast-break layup, then forced a steal which resulted in an
Anna Strickland layup. The Huskies continued to battle, with a jumper by McGarrachan culminating a 7-0 run for HBU and cutting the deficit to eight, 49-41, with 14:36 remaining. But HBU's offense went cold at the wrong time, as TAMUCC closed the game outscoring the Huskies, 24-7.
McGarrachan and Jefferson each led HBU with six points in the half, while Weaver and Fouty paced TAMUCC with eight points apiece. HBU shot just 28 percent from the floor in the half compared to 37 percent for the Islanders.
Three teams are tied for the final playoff spot with one game remaining: HBU, Sam Houston State, and New Orleans, which defeated Southeastern Louisiana and has won three straight. HBU closes the regular season at Incarnate Word Saturday at 2 pm, while SHSU faces Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches and New Orleans plays at Northwestern State.
