CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Western Illinois women's basketball fell to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in its season-opener in overtime, 66-60, at the Dugan Wellness Center on Friday evening (Nov. 8).

Ashley Luke posted her first double-double of the season to lead the Fighting Leathernecks (0-1), but it was not enough to defeat the Islanders (1-0) in the Emerald Beach Islanders Classic.

Luke scored 18 points and matched her career high with 13 rebounds to earn her eighth career double-double, and also added four assists.

In her Western Illinois debut, junior transfer Marley Hall matched Luke's team-high of 18 points, and also grabbed five rebounds.

Trailing 43-36 with less than nine minutes to play in regulation, the Leathernecks fought back and tied the game with a Liz Skotowski trey at the 2:43 mark.

Down by three with 1:34 to play, junior Tori Niemann and Hall scored on back-to-back layups to put Western ahead by a point with 50 seconds to play.

Corpus Christi answered back with a Jasmine Shaw 3-pointer, taking a two-point lead with 29 seconds remaining.

Michelle Maher found Niemann open under the basket for the game-tying layup with 15 seconds to play. Then, strong Leatherneck defense forced the Islanders to put up a contested 3-point attempt which missed, forcing overtime.

In the extra period, the Islanders scored the first four points and never relented their lead. Hall twice scored buckets to make it a one-possession game, but Corpus Christi sank six of its last eight free throws to seal the contest.

Long-distance shooting was the big difference in the box score, as the Islanders went 7-of-20 (35.0 percent) from beyond the arc compared to just 2-of-20 (10.0 percent) for the Leathernecks.

Western Illinois out-rebounded Corpus Christi, 47-40, but the Islanders held a slight advantage in field-goal shooting (22-of-59, 37.3 percent to 24-of-65, 36.9 percent).

Maher finished with five points, five rebounds, four assists and a career-high six steals, while Rebecca Henricson had two points, two boards and two assists with no turnovers before fouling out in the second half.

Off the bench, Sophie Reichelt scored six points on 3-of-4 shooting, also pulling down four rebounds.

After being held scoreless in the first half, Shaw led Corpus Christi by totaling a game-high 20 points in the second half and overtime.

Ashley Darley added a double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds) for the Islanders, while Shola Adebayo had 14 points, five rebounds, six steals and four assists.

The Leathernecks will look to rebound tomorrow (Nov. 9), taking on UAB for the first time in program history in the consolation game of the Emerald Beach Islanders Classic at 5 p.m.