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EDINBURG – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs women's basketball team rallied back from a 17-point deficit to go up by as many as eight before ultimately falling to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 60-57 on Saturday at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
 
The Broncs are the first team in the NCAA to complete 11 games this season. Only two other teams have completed 10, Alabama and Western Kentucky.
 
Senior Brittany Bush led the Broncs (6-5) with 11 points, seven rebounds and a career-high eight blocks, tied for the second-highest single-game total in program history, and the most by a Bronc since Molly Schamel recorded a program record nine blocked shots against Incarnate Word on Jan. 27, 2004. Bush now had 57-career blocks, passing Rhonda Carrington (53, 1989-91) and Adanna Opara (55, 2010-12) for fifth place in program history. Next up is Alyya Abdur-Raham, who had 78 from 1990-92.
 
Kassie Jones led four Islanders (2-4) in double-figures scoring with 17 points while going 5-of-9 from behind the arc and grabbing six rebounds. Shay Weaver scored 14 points with a game-high five assists. Camesha Davis scored 13 points while going 7-for-8 from the line. Olivia Fouty scored 10 points with a game-high eight rebounds.
 
The Islanders jumped out to a 22-5 lead over the opening 10:30 by hitting nine of their first 15 shots while limited the Broncs to 1-of-13 shooting. Sophomore Shawnte' Goff ended the run with a three-pointer as the Broncs scored seven-straight to pull within 22-12.
 
The Islanders pushed their lead back out to 16 on a Jones three that made it 30-14 with 4:43 remaining, but freshman Troi Swain followed with a three of her own to spark a 16-2 run to close out the half and bring the Broncs within 32-30. The Broncs scored the final 13 points of the half.
 
The Broncs tied the game for the first time since it was 2-2 when freshman Hildur Björg Kjartansdóttir knocked down a three with 15:28 remaining to make it 39-39. One minute later, the Broncs took their first lead on a Bush layup, and then extended the lead to 48-40 on a layup by junior Rickell Preston to cap a 16-3 run making it 48-40.
 
Dating back to the 16-2 run to end the first half, the Broncs took their eight-point lead using a 34-10 run over a span of 14:30, going 11-for-19 from the field, 4-for-10 from behind the arc and 8-for-12 from the line while holding the Islanders to 3-of-22 shooting, including 1-of-9 from behind the arc, and just 3-of-4 shooting from the line. The Broncs also forced six turnovers without committing any themselves.
 
Ashley James hit a jumper with 8:46 remaining as the Islanders scored seven-straight points as part of a 16-5 run to take a 58-55 lead. The Broncs pulled within one on a pair of Swain free throws with 9.1 seconds left, but Weaver hit two free throws with 8.2 seconds left to make it a three-point game again. Swain tried a contested three from the right wing at the buzzer but it hit off the rim.
 
The Islanders went 8-for-8 from the line over the final two minutes, six of which came from Weaver and the other two of which came from Davis. Overall, the Islanders were 15-for-17 from the line.
 
The Broncs are back in action on Sunday, Dec. 14 at 3:30 p.m. when they visit Texas Tech.

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