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BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Going for its first-ever win over a ranked opponent in program history, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team will play its season-opener at No. 23 Texas A&M at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Reed Arena.
The game can be watched live on the SEC Network Plus/ESPN+, and can also be heard live for free on the Islanders Digital Network with Doug Kesterson on the call.
Royce Chadwick begins his 10th season at the helm and 37th year overall as a head coach. Chadwick, the 2020 SLC Coach of the Year winner, enters the season just 11 conference wins away from becoming the winningest coach in an SLC career.
Junior
Alecia Westbrook was named to the SLC Preseason All-Conference Second-Team. She led the league in rebounding last season with 8.8 per game. Westbrook was the team's leader in scoring, rebounding and assists with 12.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.4 assist per game, and was second in steals. She was the only student-athlete on the roster to start in all 19 games and registered 15 double-figure scoring games and eight double-doubles.
The Islanders return four starters from last year's squad and their top seven leading scorers. Sophomore
Paige Allen averaged 9.6 points per game and senior
Makinna Serrata 8.9 per outing. Serrata tallied a career-high 17 points in the final game of the season at HBU.
A&M-Corpus Christi brought in six newcomers including four transfers and two freshmen.
Kristen Daniels spent the last four years at UL-Lafayette, while
Diamond Wraggs comes from Mississippi Valley State where she averaged 7.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
The Islanders were picked to finish fifth out of eight in the SLC Preseason Poll.
The Aggies are the reigning SEC regular season champions after going 25-3 overall and 13-1 in league play. They return eight student-athletes from a squad that reached the Sweet 16 last season. Texas A&M was predicted to place second out of 14 in the SEC Preseason Poll.
The Islanders are going for their first-ever win against Texas A&M as the two teams have played five times previously, most recently in 2019-20.
NOTES
- The Islanders will be going for their fourth win over a Power Five program in school history and the first since 2009-10 when they beat Alabama 96-90. A&M-Corpus Christi also defeated both Indiana and West Virginia in 2004-05.
- A&M-Corpus Christi will begin its 23rd season of basketball. The Islanders were the 2020 Southland Conference 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 a championship, and all four are on A&M-Corpus Christi: Westbrook, Serrata,
Hayle Campbell and
Olivia Dowden.
- A&M-Corpus Christi brought back one of its own over the summer with the hiring of
Gee Lawler as assistant coach. Lawler graduated from A&M-Corpus Christi in 2015 and played two seasons for the Islanders.
- This summer, the women's basketball program was honored with the Presidential Order of the Silver Wave for its 2019-20 season, awarded by President Dr. Kelly M. Miller. The award, created in 2005, honors individuals or groups that bring national or international recognition to the University, and who, by their actions and accomplishments, are models of excellence and encouragement for students and colleagues. It was just the third time in history that an athletics program was honored with this distinction and the first since 2007.
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