CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – The Tigers and Islanders looked to be locked in a duel after the first quarter. It was all Islanders after that, winning by a large margin, 81-61. The Tigers played well in the game but were ultimately undone by a lack of rebounding and a large foul differential in favor of the Islanders. "We showed some toughness to start, and we showed some toughness to end," said Head Coach
Bradley Davis. "The biggest thing with this group is consistency, and the biggest thing we have to improve on is we can't let a team out rebound us by 20 and we can't let a team get to the free throw line as much as we can control that."
The two teams were perfectly even in the first quarter, with the Tigers starting out hitting their first five shots of the game. The Islanders responded with seven field goals in the first half and six free throws which was indicative of the game to come. Both teams held leads in the quarter but headed into the second quarter even at 20 points apiece.
The two teams maintained the close game through the first part of the second quarter. After being tied at 24 with just over eight minutes left the Islanders went on a scoring run, outscoring the Tigers 15-5 throughout the remainder of the quarter.
Coming out of the half the Islanders continued to extend their lead, the Tigers kept shooting but were not able to get the same shots to land that they hit in the first half and multiple Tigers ended up in foul trouble.
The Tigers stayed battling in the fourth quarter, but a heavy press defense left them open under the basket and the Islanders were able to make enough passes with pressure to keep the Tigers out of striking distance.
The Tigers played well as a team, with 19 assists on 22 made field goals.
Jordan Cruz was the newest Tiger to have a career night, as she was automatic from three, hitting six threes on her way to a career high 20-point game.
Elizabeth Elliott once again had double-digit points, scoring 11 points in 10 minutes.
Erica Adams and
Liz Smith were dishing out passes all night, Adams had six assists and Smith had five.
The Tigers are back in action on Wednesday, heading to Houston to battle Rice, tip-off will be at 11:00 AM (PST)
