The UTRGV women’s basketball team lost 69-46 to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Tuesday at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi in their first matchup of the South Texas Showdown.
The Vaqueros still hold a 11.5 to 10.5 lead in the Showdown standings after the Islanders earned three points with the win. The next Showdown matchup will be tomorrow night’s men’s basketball game in Corpus Christi.
Junior Arianna Sturdivant led the Vaqueros (0-8) with a game-high and career-high 18 points while grabbing five rebounds. Sturdivant made a career-high five three-pointers on the night. Sophomore Charlotte O’Keefe scored six points with nine rebounds. Junior Kade Hackerott also scored six points and grabbed 10 rebounds and senior Mele Kailahi scored six points with three steals.
The Islanders (4-4) had four players in double-figure scoring as Nabaweeyah McGill led the way with 12 points and seven rebounds. Alecia Westbrooks added a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Violeta Verano and Annukka Willstedt each chipped in with 10 points each.
Corpus Christi jumped out to the early lead after scoring the first eight points of the game until junior Tierra Trotter knocked down a jumper to get UTRGV on the board. Minutes later, Sturdivant knocked down a three-pointer to get the Vaqueros within 11-5.
The Islanders pushed their lead to 18-7 on a jumper by Violeta Verano and then it was Sturdivant who closed out the quarter with another three-pointer to make it 18-10.
The Vaqueros used Sturdivant’s three-pointer to kick start an 11-3 run capped by a pair of free throws from junior Iyana Dorsey, which got them within 21-18.
The Islanders answered with an 11-1 run of their own to close the half as they took the 32-19 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, the Islanders put together an 11-5 run that sandwiched a three-pointer from Sturdivant as they pushed their lead to 43-24 with 5:58 left in the third quarter. Later in the third, Hackerott completed a three-point play and then O’Keefe knocked down a jumper to get the Vaqueros within 52-35.
The Vaqueros put together a 6-0 run in the fourth quarter behind a four-point play from Sturdivant that made it 59-43 but that would be as close as they would get the rest of the way.
The Vaqueros will be back in action when they host the Islanders on Thursday, Dec. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg.
