CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Set for its first-ever meeting in the South Texas Showdown, presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team faces UT-Rio Grande Valley on Saturday in the Dugan Wellness Center for a 6 p.m. tip.
The game will be streamed live on the Islanders Digital Network with Doug Kesterson on the call starting with the NavyArmy Community Credit Union pregame show. The first 200 fans through the gates will receive a free South Texas Showdown t-shirt.
DAVIS DAILY DOUBLE-DOUBLE
>> Senior
Camesha Davis has been on a tear over the last three games with a trio of double-doubles.
>> Against Panhandle State, Davis snagged 10 rebounds and tallied 11 points, all of which came in the second half, to earn her 10th career double-double.
>> She is the seventh player in program history to reach double-figures in that category.
DOMINANT DEFENSE
>> Opponents have found it difficult to break through the Islanders' defense through the first five games of the year.
>> Defensively, the Blue and Green has limited opponents to just 56.8 points per game, which ranks 54th in the country.
>> Toledo has been the only team to cross the 65-point threshold against A&M-Corpus Christi this year, which marks the first time that has happened since the 2003-04 season.
>> The Islanders have harassed shooters throughout the year, leading to a 33.1-clip for opponents from the field. The mark is the tied for 19th in the NCAA this year.
>> The Blue and Green held Montana Tech and Panhandle State to 24.6-percent and 26.5-percent shooting, respectively. It marked the fifth time in school history holding an opponent under 30-percent shooting in back-to-back games.
SWAT CITY
>> A&M-Corpus Christi rejected six shots on Wednesday against Panhandle State.
>> The Islanders have blocked five or more shots in three games this year.
>> At 4.8 blocks per game, the Islanders rank 56th in the nation and first in the Southland Conference.
CLEANING UP THE GLASS
>>The Islanders pulled down 41 rebounds on the night, finishing plus-11 on the evening. The mark set the overall rebound margin in the 2016-17 season to plus-27.
>> A&M-Corpus Christi has not posted a plus-27 rebound advantage in the opening five games of a season since 2009-10, when it held a plus-34 margin over opponents.
>> The Blue and Green has pulled down at least 40 rebounds in three games this year.
COMING OFF A WIN
>> In the
Royce Chadwick era, the Islanders are 29-20 in games coming off a win, including a 1-1 mark this season.
>> A&M-Corpus Christi can move to 11-6 when coming off two wins in Chadwick's tenure on the Island.
>> A win would also give the Blue and Green its 31st winning streak of three games or more and its sixth under Chadwick.
D(alesia) Days
>> Freshman
Dalesia Booth a meager 4.3 points per game to open her career. After outputs of 21 and 10 points against Montana Tech and Panhandle State, respectively, Booth is now second on the team with 8.8 points per game.
>> Booth is the first rookie to score 10 or more points in back-to-back games since
Brittany Mbamalu in the 2013-14 campaign.
The SHOWDOWN
>> Saturday is the first meeting between the women's basketball teams in the rivalry series.
>> A&M-Corpus Christi has a 15-11 lead, thanks to a season sweep by the Islanders Men's Basketball team.
PLAYER NOTES
>>
Rayanna Carter sunk her first career 3-pointer of her career against Panhandle State, marking the second straight game an Islander scored her first career points from downtown after
Sydney-Anne Cottrell scored against Montana Tech.
>>
Camesha Davis ranks 127th in shots blocked, 35th in double-doubles, 81st in blocks per game and 95th in rebounds per game.
>>
Kassie Jones sits 21st in the country with a .929 (13-of-14) free throw percentage.
>> After recording three assists against Panhandle State,
Dae Dae Evans has now dished out multiple assists in all five games this year.
>>
Brittany Mbamalu returned to the rotation against Panhandle State after missing the first four games to drain a pair of 3-pointers.
>>
Ashanti Plummer blocked a pair of shots against Panhandle State to take season tally to five, three back from seventh all time.
SERIES HISTORY
>> Saturday will be the 32nd meeting between the two programs.
>> The rivalry is the longest series with any opponent in Islanders' history with a 22-9 record against the Vaqueros, dating back to their time at UT-Pan American.
>> A&M-Corpus established a healthy lead in the series with wins in 15 of the first 17 matchups.
>> More recently, the Blue and Green snapped a four game losing skid in 2013 and have a three-game winning streak.
THE LAST MEETING
>> A&M-Corpus Christi and UTRGV played once last season in a 49-46 victory for the Blue and Green in the Dugan Wellness Center.
>>
Camesha Davis scored 11 points and hauled down seven rebounds, as the Blue and Green outrebounded the visitors 45-37.
>> The game was a tale of two halves, as the Islanders shot 48.1-percent in the opening 20 minutes, before going cold with just 17-percent shooting in the second half.
>> After
Kre'Ana Henry went 1-of-2 from the free throw line with three second remaining, the Islanders' defense forced a wild last-second shot by Shawntae' Goff to miss its mark.
SCOUTING THE VAQUEROS
>> UTRGV enters the weekend with a record of 4-3, including a pair of wins over Sam Houston State.
>> The Vaqueros boast an offense that has attempted 168 3-pointers this year, which ranks 24th in the country. They average 6.9 makes per game.
>> Guard Shawntae' Goff has been the leader of their offensive output, scoring 15.8 points per game with 4.2 rebounds.
>> On the glass, Hildur Björg Kjartansdóttir has been a steady presence with 9.7 rebounds per game, while adding 6.3 points per game.
STAY SOCIAL
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- Go Islanders -
