CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Prior to its official season opener, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team hosted and defeated Huston-Tillotson 56-43 in an exhibition Monday night in the Dugan Wellness Center.
The Islanders got out to a 6-0 lead and held the Lady Rams scoreless until the 5:08 mark of the first quarter. A&M-Corpus Christi never relinquished its lead, leading 30-16 at the half and 46-30 at the end of the third. Huston-Tillotson shot its best in the fourth, but it was not enough to threaten the outcome.
The A&M-Corpus Christi defense forced 26 turnovers and limited the Lady Rams to 13-43 (.302) from the field. A majority of the Islanders' damage was done in the paint, where they outscored Huston-Tillotson 44-12.
Redshirt senior
Makinna Serrata led the team with 11 points, three steals and four assists, while also hitting the lone three-pointer for the Islanders. Sophomore
Paige Allen was also in double-figures with 11 points and matched Serrata's five rebounds.
Seniors
Alecia Westbrook and
Hayle Campbell both finished with six points on the night. In addition, Westbrook grabbed nine rebounds while Campbell pulled in four.
The Lady Rams had Irish Winn to lead them with 12 points, who went 3-5 from the field and knocked down a pair of three-pointers.
Campbell scored with a layup within the first 30 seconds of the game to start the scoring. Layups by Serrata and Westbrook increased it to 6-0 before Huston-Tillotson went on a 7-1 run to tie game 7-all with 2:44 remaining in the first. A layup and a free throw by freshman
Bruna Anguera was answered with a three-pointer by the Lady Rams to tie it again 10-10. The quarter remained scoreless until a last-second foul by Huston-Tillotson sent junior
Justis Odom to the line where she went 2-2 to send the Islanders to the second quarter up 12-10.
The Islanders outscored Huston-Tillotson 18-6 in the second quarter. Layups by junior
Violeta Verano, Serrata and Odom made it a 19-13 game, before a three-pointer by Serrata took it to 22-13. Allen scored the final four points of the half which gave the Islanders the 30-16 advantage heading to the half.
The largest lead of the game came 36-16 came on a layup by Westbrook on the fastbreak with 6:44 left in the third. A 5-0 run by the Lady Rams took the deficit down to 14, but a pair of layups by sophomore
Maya Ellis and field goals by Allen, Westbrook and junior
Mireia Aguado kept A&M-Corpus Christi ahead 46-30 going into the fourth.
Huston-Tillotson went 5-11 in the fourth quarter to try for a final push, but scoring from Serrata and Allen pushed the Islanders to a 54-41 lead with 4:06 remaining. Anguera scored the final points of the game off a layup with 2:17 remaining to take the final score to 56-43 with the Islanders on top.
This was the third time these programs have faced each other, which each time ending in favor of A&M-Corpus Christi and first since 2004-05.
Although the game won't factor into the season record, it marked the first time the Islanders played at home since early March when they closed out the program's first undefeated home record with a 14-0 mark. The home winning streak is tied for seventh longest in the nation.
A&M-Corpus Christi will officially open its 2022-23 season on the road at Texas Tech on Monday and Texas A&M on Thursday. The Islanders will then have a chance to extend their home winning streak with the official home opener set for Nov. 16 against Texas Lutheran.
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