HAMMOND, La. – In a matchup between the only unbeaten teams in Southland Conference play, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball program erased a 10-point halftime deficit, but Southeastern was able to hang on in the end 48-43 Thursday at the University Center.
A&M-Corpus Christi (11-7, 3-1 SLC) trailed 30-20 at the intermission when it used a big third quarter to come back and take a 35-32 lead. Though, Southeastern (8-6, 4-0 SLC) was able to prevail in the fourth quarter.
Buckets were tough to come by all night for both teams as the defense stood out. A&M-Corpus Christi, which saw its six-game winning-streak come to an end, shot .314 from the field but limited the Lady Lions to a .292 clip.
Sophomore
Violeta Verano netted a game-high 15 points to go along with four assists. Junior
Alecia Westbrook, the reigning SLC Player of the Week winner, neared a double-double with 8 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.
SLU used a balance scoring attack and didn't have a double-figure scorer. Caitlyn Williams led the way with nine points and 17 rebounds.
The Islanders trailed 11-7 in the first quarter when Westbrook converted an and-one off a feed from McGill to trail by one with 3:39 left. Though, the Lady Lions scored the last five points of the quarter to lead 16-10.
After Verano and sophomore
Paige Allen made the first two field goals of the second to cut the deficit to 16-14, the Lady Lions answered with a floater and a three to go back up 21-14 with 7:26 remaining. A jumper by sophomore
Nabaweeyah McGill trimmed it to 21-18, but SLU ended the half on a 9-2 run to go up 30-20.
The Islanders came out on fire in the second half and tied the game 30-30 with a 10-0 run. The spurt included field goals by Verano, senior
Makinna Serrata Serrata, Allen and Westbrook as A&M-Corpus Christi held the Lady Lions scoreless until the 3:41 mark. The Islanders took the lead 35-32 on a three by Verano with 1:42 to go, but the Lady Lions scored the final five points to go up 37-35 heading into the fourth.
A three-pointer by Verano tied it 40-40 with 7:59 remaining, but SLU's defense kicked in and the Islanders went scoreless for over seven minutes. The Lady Lions led 44-40 when Allen hit two free throws with 40 seconds left. After SLU scored, Allen made one of two free throws and A&M-Corpus Christi got a stop defensively trailing 46-43. A three-pointer by the Islanders in the closing seconds was off the mark and they were forced to foul.
A&M-Corpus Christi will close out the weekend with another road game at Northwestern State on Saturday with a 1 p.m. tip at Prather Coliseum.
NOTES
- The Islanders are now 11-9 all-time against the Lady Lions.
- A&M-Corpus Christi's 3-0 start to conference play was its best since 2009-10.
- The 91 total points was the lowest in an Islanders game since Feb. 20, 2019 when they beat Stephen F. Austin 46-44.
- Verano registered her sixth double-figure scoring game of the year and third in a row. Her six made field goals matched a career-high. Verano has dished out at least two assists in every game this year.
- Westbrook continued her streak of pulling down at least eight rebounds in every game this year. She entered the contest ranked 19th in the nation in rebounding with 11.1 per game and will increase her average with 15. It was one shy of her career-high. Westbrook recorded her 22nd career double-figure rebounding game and 11th this year.
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
