CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Getting stops defensively and running out in transition led to a lopsided 92-40 win for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball program over St. Edward's on Sunday in the Dugan Wellness Center.
It was a wire-to-wire victory for the Islanders (4-3), who limited the Hilltoppers to a .250 (14-56) shooting mark from the floor. A&M-Corpus Christi forced 24 turnovers and outscored SEU 30-0 in fast break scoring.
On the offensive end, the Islanders shot .600 (33-55) from the field and dominated inside with a 50-18 scoring edge in the paint. All 12 student-athletes that entered the game scored.
Junior
Alecia Westbrook, the reigning Southland Conference Player of the Week winner, led the way with a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds, while committing zero fouls. The 19 points matched her career-high.
One point shy of her career-high was junior
Hayle Campbell with 15 points. Senior
Makinna Serrata and sophomore
Nabaweeyah McGill were also in double-figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
SEU was paced by Ronnie Cantu's 16 points off the bench on 7-of-10 shooting. Taylor Cockerill also reached double-digits with 10 points.
The Islanders were up 3-2 when they used a 13-0 run to pull away in the first quarter. In started with a lay-up by Serrata and was capped by a three by Campbell to go up 16-2 at the 4:04 mark. The 13-0 spurt turned into a 25-2 run as an old-fashion three-point play by Campbell increased it to 28-4 with 1:16 to go.
A&M-Corpus Christi kept the pace fast in the second quarter and made it a 37-8 game after a transition lay-up by Allen with 6:26 left. Another bucket by Campbell extended it to 49-14 with 2:47 remaining, and the Islanders carried a 53-18 lead into the intermission after a lay-up by Allen.
Leading 61-28 in the third, the Islanders used an 8-0 run late in the quarter as an inside basket by Westbrook changed the score to 69-28 with 2:34 left. A buzzer-beating lay-up by freshman
Annukka Willstedt after a feed from sophomore
Violeta Verano made it 75-32 heading to the fourth.
A&M-Corpus Christi's largest lead of the game, 92-38, came in the final minute as junior
Olivia Dowden hit a jumper just outside the paint.
The Islanders will be back on the road Saturday at 2 p.m. when it travels to Rice.
NOTES
- It was the first time since March 12, 2008 against Texas State that the Islanders shot 60 percent from the floor.
- The 52-point win was the program's largest margin of victory since Dec. 30, 2014 when it beat Huston-Tillotson 99-33.
- A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 4-0 at home this season. The program is 205-144 all-time at home and 51-28 in the Dugan Wellness Center.
- The Islanders entered the game leading the SLC in both assist:turnover ratio (0.92) and steals (11.67) and will see their averages go up with 21 assists, 13 turnovers and 20 steals.
- Westbrook registered her 10th career double-double and second this season. It was her 20th career double-figure scoring game and 16th career double-digit rebounding game. Westbrook was 5-of-7 from the floor and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. She leads the conference in rebounding with 11.4 per game.
- Campbell tallied her seventh career double-figure scoring game. She was 4-of-5 from the field, 5-of-5 from the free throw line and 2-of-2 from long range.
- Serrata recorded 12 points in just 6:34 minutes. She was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor. Serrata submitted her 15th career double-figure scoring game and fourth his year.
- McGill scored eight of her 10 points in the fourth quarter for her fifth career double-digit scoring game and third of the season. She was two points shy of her career-best.
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
