Battle on the Border

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Heading into its only back-to-back of the 2016-17 season, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team will wrap up its non-conference slate on Monday and Tuesday at the Battle on the Border Tournament, hosted by UTRGV.
 
The Islanders (4-5) take on UC-Santa Barbara on Monday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., before facing UTRGV in the return leg of the South Texas Showdown, presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union, on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
 
The Islanders Digital Network will have an audio stream for both games with Doug Kesterson on the call. UTRGV (6-6) will have the video on Tuesday on the WAC Digital Network.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi enters this week aiming to snap a two-game losing skid with losses to Texas A&M (Dec. 10) and Rice (Dec. 15). With a pair of wins, the Blue and Green can enter Southland Conference play with a winning record for the third time in program history.
 
Thursday night was a setback for A&M-Corpus Christi, as 29.6-percent shooting led to a 70-36 defeat at Rice. Brianna Jackson scored a team-high 11 points for her third double-figure game of the season. Uri Jolivette added eight points and four rebounds.
 
Even with the Owls shooting 51.9-percent, the Islanders are still ranked second in the Southland Conference in opponent shooting at 37.9-percent this year. The Blue and Green is 4-1 when holding opponents to under 40-percent shooting.
 
Monday will be the first meeting between the Islanders and UCSB (3-7). A&M-Corpus Christi is 2-1 this season against first-time opponents.
 
The Gauchos are coming off a buzzer beater to win over Fresno State on Monday. Sarah Potter has powered UCSB in scoring with 10.5 points per game, followed by Coco Miller with 10.3. Rebounding could play a major advantage for the Islanders on Monday. The Gauchos have a -4.3 rebounding margin this season.  Long distance shooting has clicked early for UCSB with an average of 7.1 3-pointers per game. 
 
UTRGV dropped three straight after beating the Islanders by three on Dec. 3. The Vaqueros bounced back on Saturday topping Evangel, 86-55. Shawntae' Goff has continued to power the offense with 15.3 points per game. Hildur Björg
Kjartansdóttir and Mary Savoy have cleaned up on the glass with eight and 6.3 rebounds per game, respectively.
 
Tuesday's contest will send the Islanders or the Vaqueros into 2017 with the lead in the South Texas Showdown, presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union. A&M-Corpus Christi holds a narrow 15-14 lead, thanks to a season sweep by the Islanders Men's Basketball team.

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