Northern Colorado Drops 62-42 Championship Tilt With Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

Box Score

OREM, Utah - The University of Northern Colorado women's basketball team took second-place honors at the NCAA Division I Independent Championships after falling to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders in the title game on Saturday night at the McKay Events Center by the score of 62-42.

Northern Colorado completed its second season at the Division level with a record of 12-16. Texas A&M Corpus-Christi improved to 22-6 on the year and will await word on whether it will receive a bid to the WNIT later this month.

The Bears struggled in the first 20 minutes of action, while the Islanders took full advantage of the Bears off-play and grabbed a 39-18 halftime lead. Through the first 16 minutes of game action the Bears had tallied as many turnovers (12) as points (12) and had only one assist.

The Islanders shot 46.7 percent (14-of-3) in the first half, including 54.5 percent (6-of-11) from three-point range. On the other hand, Northern Colorado shot 34.8 percent (8-of-23) and made only one three-pointer in the first stanza. The Islanders also dominated the boards and doubled up the Bears at 22-11 in the rebounding battle at the intermission.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi surged to a 28-point advantage at 48-20 with 14:53 to go in the game. At that point, the Bears seemed to come alive and went on a 17-1 run to trim the lead to 12 points at 49-37. The Bears' comeback was ignited by five quick points from sophomore guard Bailey Dillon. Dillon drained two free throws and swished a deep three during the run. Junior Cindy McCarroll capped the run with a three-pointer from the top of the key with 8:25 remaining in the contest.

The Islanders Nicole Duncan answered the Bears' run with a dagger of a three-pointer with 8:17 to go in the game and gave the No. 1 seed a 52-37 lead with 8:17 left in the game. Duncan's bucket slowed the Bears and the Islanders scored six in a row to go back up by 19 points at 56-37 with 5:51 left on the clock. Northern Colorado would get no closer than 17 points the rest of the way and the Islanders were able to claim the title.

Northern Colorado was led in scoring by senior guard Kayla Flavin with nine points. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was led in scoring by Kirbria Lewis with a game-high 19 points.

Northern Colorado's Danielle Hagen and Kayla Flavin were each named to the All-Tournament team in a ceremony following the game.

"We had a great season after we started 3-13", Flavin said after the contest. "I think everybody played their hearts out tonight. I don't think there was one person who was slacking - sometimes you just miss shots but I don't think any of us have any regrets. Every team faces challenges, but I think our team is different. I think we are all each other's best friends. We are one of the closest teams anywhere and that helped us this season."

NOTES: This was the third all-time meeting between the Bears and Islanders on the hardwood with Texas A&M-CC holding a 2-0 series lead ... The Islanders posted a 62-38 win on Jan. 31, 2004 and a 60-46 win on Feb. 12, 2005, in Greeley earlier this season ... senior guard Kayla Flavin closed out her UNC career on Saturday night with a team-high nine points ... Flavin finished 8^th on the Bears' all-time three-pointers made list with 90 career treys.