Islanders Look to Stay Hot at Denver Classic against Pioneers & Tulane

Islanders Game Notes | Watch ($) | Listen IDN | Live Stats | Tickets

DENVER – Coming off an unbeaten home stand, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will travel for the Denver Classic when it takes on the host Denver at 4:30 p.m. (CT) Friday and a neutral court game against Tulane at 2 p.m. (CT) Saturday at Hamilton Gymnasium.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi (3-1) beat three teams at the Dugan Wellness Center. The Islanders started it off with a 66-57 win over UTRGV and ended with an 81-61 win over Pacific.
 
Senior Makinna Serrata leads the SLC in scoring with 16.3 points per game. She's coming off a career night of 28 points and nine rebounds against Pacific. It was her second 20-plus scoring night of the year which included 20 points and six rebounds against UTRGV.
 
On the glass, junior Alecia Westbrook is tied for the league's lead with 12.8 rebounds per game. She nearly averages a double-double with 9.3 points per game. Westbrook was named to the SLC Preseason All-Conference Second-Team.
 
As a team, A&M-Corpus Christi leads the league in assist:turnover ratio (0.94). Sophomore Violeta Verano ranks first individually in assists with 4.5 per game.
 
The Islanders withstood an early surge to beat Pacific. The Tigers were 5-for-6 (.833) from three-point range after the first quarter, but yet the score was tied 20-20. The Islanders then held Pacific to a 3-for-13 (.231) mark in the second quarter to build a 10-point halftime lead and extended it in the second half to put the game out of reach.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi notched a big rivalry win 66-57 over UTRGV at home in the South Texas Showdown, presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union. A&M-Corpus Christi scored the first 13 points of the game and the lead was never in doubt the rest of the way. Serrata netted 20 points, while sophomore Nabaweeyah McGill tallied 11 points.
 
Denver (1-3) has a 70-61 win over Missouri S&T but has defeats to Air Force 79-62, Wichita State 76-61 and Colorado State 67-43. Uju Ezeudu leads the team with 16.8 points and 9.0 rebounds per outing. The Pioneers were 7-16 overall and 5-9 in the Summit League last season.
 
Tulane (4-1) is off to a very strong start with wins over Southeastern 66-58, Alabama 69-66, TCU 88-78 and South Alabama 86-53. It's only loss was to LSU in its last outing 75-58 on the road. The Green Wave have a +13.2 rebounding margin and four student-athletes who score in double-figures. Moon Ursin leads the way with 15.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
 
All games of the tournament can be watched on Pioneers All-Access with a subscription. They can also be heard for free on the Islanders Digital Network with Doug Kesterson on the calls.
 
NOTES
- With a 3-1 record, A&M-Corpus Christi is off to its best start since 2009-10. The program hasn't started 4-1 since 2004-05 when it came out of the gates with an 8-1 record; the Islanders, who were still Division I Independent at the time, played in the Women's NIT that season.
 
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 1-1 all-time against both Denver and Tulane. The Islanders defeated the Pioneers 71-70 in 2001-02 but fell 64-49 in 2000-01. A&M-Corpus Christi split two meetings against the Green Wave in 2004.
 
- A&M-Corpus Christi is only in its 23rd season of basketball. The Islanders were the 2020 SLC champions, finishing the year 23-7 overall and 17-3 SLC. The conference tournament was canceled due to COVID-19, but the Islanders were the top seed. The 17-3 SLC record was the best-ever in program history.
 
- There are only four current student-athletes in the entire Southland Conference that have won an SLC championship, and all four are on A&M-Corpus Christi: Westbrook, Serrata, Hayle Campbell and Olivia Dowden.
 
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