Story Headlines
- The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi women's basketball team clinched a share of their first Southland Conference regular season title in program history with a 60-45 victory over Sam Houston State Wednesday night in Huntsville, Texas.
- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi improves to 22-7 overall and 16-3 in Southland play. The Bearkats fall to 19-9 and 14-5 in conference play.
- The 22 wins are the third most in program history, trailing only the 2004-05 squad (23-7) and the 2009-10 team (24-11).
- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi earned its ninth road win of the year, the most in school history. Previously, the Islanders had won eight road games on three different occasions.
- The A&M-Corpus Christi defense held Sam Houston to its second lowest point total this season and its lowest in SLC action so far.
- For the 11th straight game, the starting five for the Islanders featured;
Dae Dae Evans,
Alexes Bryant,
Emma Young (Coleman-O'Bryan),
Dalesia Booth and
Alecia Westbrook.
Key Islander Statistics
- The Islanders jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the first two and a half minutes of the first frame, highlighted by a three point basket from Coleman-O'Bryan. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi held a 23-17 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
- The defense of the Blue and Green continued to pressure the top scoring offense in the Southland, allowing only seven second quarter points. A&M-Corpus Christi gave up just two field goals in the frame, holding the Bearkats without a make from the floor for the final 8:38 of the quarter. The Islanders would take a 33-24 lead into lockerroom.
- The third quarter was a back and forth affair as both teams exchanged free throws in the opening two minutes. Sam Houston State got as close as four points on two different occasions but could never get any closer.
- A&M-Corpus Christi completed the 15 point victory with a strong final frame, outscoring the Bearkats, 16-8.
- Evans collected her third double-digit scoring performance in her last four games, leading the offense with 14 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and a steal.
- Booth was right behind Evans on the stat sheet, scoring 12 points, grabbing a team high seven rebounds, four steals, two assists and two blocks.
- Bryant was the final Islander to reach double figures, as the Cibolo, Texas native collected 11 points. She matched Booth on the boards with seven rebounds and led the team with four blocks. She also dished out three assists.
- Coleman-O'Bryan chipped in eight points which included a three point basket and three makes from the charity stripe. In addition, Coleman-O'Bryan added three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
-
Tiara Matthews, Westbrook and
Makinna Serrata scored six, five and four points respectively. Matthews grabbed five rebounds, while Serrata recorded three.
- The Islanders won the battle of the boards for the 21st time this season, grabbing 33 compared to the Bearkats 26.
- A&M-Corpus Christi shot 43.4-percent from the field compared to Sam Houston's 37.7-percent.
- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi forced 25 Bearkat turnovers on 13 steals.
- The Islanders nearly led from start to finish, giving up the lead for only 33 seconds of game time.
Islander Notables
- With her 12 points tonight, Booth moves up to No. 3 all-time in career scoring with 1,278 points. She continues to add to her shot block record, adding two more tonight to bring her career total to 130.
- Bryant claims sole possession of the No. 4 spot on the all-time shot block list with her four blocks tonight. She now has 117 blocks in only two years on the Island and can pass Jean Clark for the No. 3 spot (119) with three more. In addition, the senior forward is now tied for No. 3 all-time for blocks in a single season with 51. Bryant owns the record current single season of 66 which she set as a junior.
- Coleman-O'Bryan jumps one spot up on the all-time defensive rebound list to No. 4 with 431 career defensive boards.
- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is now 17-4 when they outrebound their opponent.
Stay Social
- For more information on Islanders Women's Basketball, keep up with the team via their Facebook page (
Islanders Women's Basketball) and follow the program on Twitter (
@Islanders_WBB) and Instagram (
@IslandersWBB).
Up Next
- The Islanders look to claim their first outright regular season conference championship in school history, returning home for the final regular season game of the year to host Houston Baptist Saturday, March 7 at 1:00 p.m. at the American Bank Center. The game, which also serves as senior day, will be broadcast live on KDF. Fans can purchase tickets to the game
here.
*Emma Young's name was officially changed to Emma Coleman-O'Bryan after the completion of an adoption process.
