Newbie TAMUCC Ladys host WNIT game

MeanGreen61 · March 18, 2005

Quite a feat for a relatively new independant program.

Islanders seek some respect

Team hopes to give Fresno State lesson in geography, hoops

By John Allen Caller-Times

March 18, 2005

With a late Sunday bid to the Women's National Invitational Tournament, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team put itself on the national map. At 7 p.m. today in the American Bank Center, they'll try to show Fresno State exactly where Corpus Christi is located, because the team doesn't seem to know.

Asked by a Fresno television reporter about their destination for their first round postseason game, the Bulldogs seemed to be at a loss.

The winner gets Texas A&M in the WNIT second round. Packaged with the men’s game as an NIT doubleheader, a crowd of 8,532 watched the host Aggies beat Tulsa in the opening round.

"Texas Corpus Christi A ... I don't know. It's a Texas school, we're going to Texas so," said Fresno State guard Veronica Mack in tape aired on KRIS-TV.

While this will be the first postseason women's college basketball game in Corpus Christi and the Islanders are the first Independent school to earn a spot in this tournament's history, head coach Jodi Kest couldn't help but feel a lack of respect.

"The last team that didn't respect us was IPFW," said Kest referring to an 82-60 win at the Independent tournament. "We hope to show Fresno State exactly where Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is."

The winner of tonight's game advances to play Texas A&M, which defeated Tulsa Wednesday night.

Tickets are available by calling the American Bank Center ticket office at 826-4744 between 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Contact John Allen at 886-3745 or allenj@caller.com