A&M-Corpus Christi Uses Team Effort to Ground Hilltoppers

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball program shot .509 from the field and forced 27 turnovers to defeat St. Edward's 78-70 on Friday at the Dugan Wellness Center.
 
The Islanders (1-5), who outscored the Hilltoppers (0-1) 46-10 in points off the bench, shot 29-for-57 from the floor and also 5-of-9 from three-point range. Their swarming defense limited SEU (0-1) to a .389 shooting clip and 4-of-17 from beyond-the-arc.
 
Sophomore Alecia Westbrook turned in her second consecutive double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. She also dished out a career-high five assists and matched her career-high with four steals.
 
A career-high in scoring came from sophomore Hayle Campbell who netted 16 points off the bench. She was a scorching hot 6-for-8 shooting and also recorded a career-high six steals on the defensive end.
 
A strong night came from sophomore Olivia Dowden who poured in 13 points. She drilled a trio of three-pointers and also secured a career-high five rebounds.
 
The Hilltoppers were led by D'aviyon Magazine who finished with a game-high 24 points in 33 minutes.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi trailed 10-3 early when it a three-pointer by Dowden sparked a 7-0 run to tie it 10-10 at the 4:58 mark. A jumper from just outside the paint by junior Alexandria Pollard and a put-back by senior Giana Wright gave the team an 18-14 lead with 1:42 left. The Islanders remained ahead 22-18 at the end of the first.
 
A big second quarter began with a jumper by Campbell. A lay-up by Wright and a bucket by freshman Paige Allen extended it to 32-23 with 4:41 to go. A&M-Corpus Christi garnered a jump shot from Westbrook on its final possession to take a 40-28 lead at the break. The Islanders outscored the Hilltoppers 18-10 in the second.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi kept it up in the third where it outscored SEU 26-17. Three-pointers by Dowden and Campbell pushed the advantage up to 46-33 with 8:02 left. Junior Makinna Serrata scored in transition to make it a 60-41 game with 2:19 remaining. A&M-Corpus Christi's largest lead of the game 66-43 came after freshman Eliyjah Westbrook sank two free throws in the last minute.
 
The Hilltoppers made a run in the fourth quarter but were too far behind to threaten the lead. They trailed by 16 with 1:13 left when they scored the final eight points of the game, but it was too little too late.
 
The Islanders will close out the weekend at home Sunday when they host Concordia (Texas) at 2 p.m. in the Dugan Wellness Center. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs and the season opener for the Hilltoppers.
 
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 198-140 all-time at home and 46-25 in the Dugan Wellness Center.
 
- The Islanders are now 2-1 all-time against St. Edward's. It was the first meeting between the two teams since 2010-11. Friday's game was a make-up date after the scheduled game on Dec. 5 was postponed due to COVID-19 testing protocols.
 
- A&M-Corpus Christi entered the contest ranked second in the conference in blocks with 4.0, and were right on par with four. Serrata rejected a pair off the bench.
 
- Westbrook entered the game leading the SLC in rebounding with 9.0 SLC and will improve upon her lead. She notched her fourth career double-double and third this season. Westbrook submitted her 11th career double-figure scoring game and has reached that plateau in all six games this year.
 
- Campbell topped her previous career-high of 12 points set two times previously, most recently at Kansas on Nov. 29. Her six made field goals marked a career-high. It was her fourth career double-figure scoring performance.
 
- Dowden was one-point shy of her career-high of 14 set against Texas Wesleyan on Dec. 7, 2019. She knocked down three long-range shots for the second time this year after doing it at Wichita State on Nov. 27. Her five rebounds topped her previous best of two, set four times.
 
Stay Social
- Keep up with the women's basketball program via its Facebook page (Islanders Women's Basketball) and follow the program on Twitter (@Islanders_WBB) and Instagram (@IslandersWBB).
 


#ShakasUp