Islanders Game Notes | Watch ESPN+ | Live Stats | Tickets
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Opening conference play against a familiar opponent, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball program will host UIW at 1 p.m. Saturday at the American Bank Center.
A&M-Corpus Christi (8-6, 0-0 SLC) and UIW (4-7, 0-0 SLC) have already played each other in back-to-back games with the Islanders winning both, 62-43 at home and 58-53 on the road. However, the stakes are higher Saturday as the result will go towards their conference records, while the last two were non-conference games.
The Islanders will also put their undefeated home record on the line where they are 7-0 this year. They've outscored the opposition 524-340 over those games.
The Islanders are looking to win their fourth straight over an SLC opponent. The streak started with a 61-56 victory over HBU last Wednesday. The impromptu scheduling of non-conference games against SLC foes came after the SLC Preseason Tipoff was canceled on the women's side.
Junior
Alecia Westbrook is the reigning SLC Player of the Week winner, her second this season. She averaged 14.0 points and 11.5 rebounds and shot .550 from the floor in the wins over the Huskies and Cardinals.
On the season, Westbrook averages a double-double of 12.4 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. She has five double-doubles on the year and has grabbed at least eight rebounds in every contest this season. Westbrook has scored in double-digits in 10 of the last 11 games.
Also averaging in double-figures is senior
Makinna Serrata with 12.3 points per game. She scored in double-digits in both wins over UIW in the past week.
Sophomore
Violeta Verano is coming off a career game where she registered career-highs of 22 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals in the win at UIW. She was 5-of-8 from three-point range. Verano ranks first in the conference in assists (4.5 apg) and has dished out at least a pair of assists in every game this year.
Sophomore
Nabaweeyah McGill leads the SLC in blocks with 1.7 per game. In the home win against UIW, she swatted a career-high seven blocks. Prior to that, she registered a career-high 18 points in the win over HBU and was 8-of-9 from the floor.
UIW's roster features the SLC's leading scorer in Jaaucklyn Moore who averages 16.2 points per game. Moore was held scoreless by the Islanders in Corpus Christi last weekend but bounced back with 15 points in San Antonio on Tuesday.
Saturday's game can be watched live on ESPN+ with Doug Kesterson on the call.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 15-2 all-time against UIW and has won five in a row. The Islanders are 8-0 all-time at home against the Cardinals.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 208-144 all-time at home and 83-72 in the American Bank Center.
- Head coach
Royce Chadwick is 11 SLC wins away from becoming the winningest coach in an SLC career. He's chasing James Smith's mark of 339 wins at Northwestern State from 1987-04. Chadwick has 328 wins including 31 from SHSU, 173 from SFA and 124 as an Islander.
- A&M-Corpus Christi ranks 9th in the nation in free throw attempts (335) and 20th in steals per game (11.8 spg). Individually, Westbrook is 15th in the country in rebounding (11.1) and top-20 in defensive rebounds (7.5 drpg).
- In addition to steals, A&M-Corpus Christi ranks first in the league in field goal percentage (.411), rebounding margin (+4.9) and assists (15.5 apg).
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 8-0 when leading at half. The Islanders have been up at the intermission in every home game this year. They are also undefeated (7-0) when they outrebound the opposition.
- 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.
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