Islanders Beat Bearkats On The Road

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi picked up their second straight Southland Conference win this Wednesday after beating Sam Houston State 67-57 in Huntsville. The Islanders have rallied to win back-to-back road contests this week after falling in their opening two SLC contests, and look to move above .500 in conference play with a road trip to New Orleans this coming Saturday.

The Blue and Green jumped out to an early lead against the Bearkats, with 11 of the night's first 13 points going in the direction of visiting Corpus Christi. The Islanders shot an impressive 75% from the floor in the opening stanza, with Coach Chadwick's side connecting on nine of the 12 shots taken. 

With an average of 55.6 points allowed per game, the second ranked defense in the Southland held the Bearkats to just five field goals in the first quarter, while keeping SHSU to 28.6% shooting and 22 points in the entire first half. 

Redshirt-senior Brittany Mbamalu came into Wednesday's matchup just 16 points shy of reaching 1,000 for her career, and erased that gap in the opening 19 minutes of play against SHSU. Mbamalu scored 11 in the opening quarter against the Bearkats and followed her performance with a seven-point second, to become the eighth player in Islander program history to reach the milestone of 1,000 points. With 23 overall on the day, the Houston, Texas native now sits 82 shy of the seventh-place spot on the Islander all-time scoring list, while her 249 three-pointers are 40 more than any other athlete to play ball at Corpus Christi.

Boosted by Mbamalu's 18 in the first half, and Dalesia Booth's 11, the Islanders brought a 40-22 lead onto the court at the start of the second half. Neither team would shoot well in the early goings of the third period, before a 12-point run from the home team would bring the score back within 10, with 12 minutes remaining in the contest.

Guarding a 52-38 advantage into the final quarter, Mbamalu's five points and Dae Dae Evans three would be just enough to hold the Bearkats off for a 67-57 win. Booth would finish off her eighth double-digit performance of the season with 17 and five rebounds, while sophomore Emma Young recorded 10 points of her own, with five boards and five assists.

• Four Islanders recorded five rebounds on the night, all of which also made starts on the night. The Blue and Green outrebounded SHSU 38-35 and is now 9-1 when doing so this year
• Corpus Christi's six blocks are one short of a season-high, with Booth and Mbamalu each tallying a pair. Booth owns a team-lead with 24 rejections on the year, while Mbamalu's game-total ties a career-best
• Wednesday's game marks the sixth time this year the Islanders have held an opponent to under 35% shooting, they're 36.7% against on the season is currently one of the top-three averages in the Southland
• The Blue and Green allowed only a single Bearkat to reach double digits on the afternoon, with only one player tallying more than three field goals on the night
• This is the fourth year in a row the Islanders have earned a win against SHSU, going 5-1 against the Bearkats during that span

COMING UP NEXT
The Islanders head down to the 'Big Easy' to matchup with the University of New Orleans, as the Blue and Green owns a 6-1 record against the Privateers all-time, and last beat UNO in the quarterfinals of the 2017 SLC Championships.

The Islanders' coming matchups, along with all road contests, can be heard via the Islander Digital Network, powered by AEP Texas.

STAY SOCIAL
For more information on Islanders women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter (@IslandersWBB), Instagram (@IslandersWBB) and like their Facebook page (Islanders Women's Basketball).