CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – HCU came out on the wrong end of a 73-49 final at the American Bank Center on Wednesday evening, falling to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the opening game of the 2023-24 Southland Conference women's basketball slate.
HCU (5-7, 0-1 SLC) opened the game strong with a pair of
N'Denasija Collins buckets giving the Huskies an early 6-2 advantage. Paige Allen sank a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession for the Islanders (8-4, 1-0 SLC) before Collins answered with the next four points of the game for a 10-4 HCU lead with 3:30 left in the first quarter. TAMUCC responded with the game's next seven points to take a one-point lead but the Huskies finished the first quarter leading, 15-14, after an
Enya Maguire jumper with five seconds on the clock.
The Islanders began to pull away as the second quarter moved along, going ahead 26-20 before a Maguire three cut the HCU deficit in half. TAMUCC closed out the final 4:24 of the first half with a 15-3 run to lead 41-26 at the break. HCU scored the first basket of the second half, a
Kennedy Wilson layup, to make it a 13-point game but never got any closer the rest of the way.
Collins and
Amy Cotton tied for a team-high eight points with Collins finishing with nine rebounds. Cotton added four assists and four rebounds.
Tove Caesar and
Erin Maguire each scored seven for the Huskies. HCU finished the game shooting 38.2 percent (21-of-55) from the floor, 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from three and 37.5 percent (3-of-8) from the foul line.
The Huskies get back to their home floor this coming Saturday, Jan. 6, for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off against the Nicholls Colonels in Sharp Gym.
