CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Extending its home-winning streak to 15 games, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team dominated Texas Lutheran in a 70-38 home opening victory Wednesday night in the Dugan Wellness Center.
The 15 straight victories at home for the Islanders (1-2) ranks seventh in the nation in home-winning streaks. The win over Texas Lutheran (0-3) also marked the first of the 2022-23 season for A&M-Corpus Christi.
The Islanders allowed a 6-6 tie at the 7:45 mark before they silenced the Bulldogs to close out the first quarter with a 20-6 lead that only grew. A big 23-point fourth quarter propelled A&M-Corpus Christi to over a 30-point win margin, all while keeping the Bulldogs to just eight points in the fourth. The Islanders dominated inside, scoring 38 of their points in the paint compared to Texas Lutheran's four.
Senior
Alecia Westbrook led the game with her first double-double of the season of 14 points and 15 rebounds while also blocking three shots and matching her career-high four steals. Freshman
Bruna Anguera and redshirt senior
Makinna Serrata each got a block in the game as well.
Anguera totaled nine points and was 3-for-5 from the field. Serrata put up eight points and was 4-4 at the free throw line. Junior
Violeta Verano and graduate student
Kristen Daniels each contributed seven points.
Texas Lutheran was led by Brianna Larkin who turned in a team-high seven points, while also tallying an assist and four rebounds.
The Bulldogs took a 6-4 lead early in the first quarter, before a layup on the fastbreak by junior
Paige Allen tied it 6-all to wake the Islanders up who went on to keep Texas Lutheran scoreless the rest of the quarter. A pair of layups and a long-range goal by Westbrook gave the Islanders a 14-6 lead at the 1:42 mark. The last-second three-pointer by Verano completed a 16-0 run in the first for a 20-6 Islander advantage into the second quarter.
The second quarter featured a three-pointer from junior
Sasha Shishkina who came off the bench. Layups by Serrata, Westbrook, Anguera, and Allen helped the Islanders to a comfortable 38-16 lead going into the intermission.
Texas Lutheran challenged out of the half, outscoring the Islanders 12-11 in the third quarter. However, the Islanders made up for it in the fourth as the team went up by as many as 33 points (65-32) off back-to-back field goals by sophomore
Annukka Willstedt. A&M-Corpus Christi didn't stray far from that lead, ending the night with the 32-point advantage in the 70-38 decision.
The Islanders are now a perfect 4-0 against Texas Lutheran and has outscored the Bulldogs 313-186 in the all-time record.
Up next, A&M-Corpus Christi will remain at home to host Western Colorado on Sunday. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. CT in the Dugan Wellness Center and will be available to watch live on ESPN+.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 216-144 all-time at home and 56-28 in the Dugan Wellness Center.
- For the second game in a row, the entire A&M-Corpus Christi roster saw time on the court but this time with all 15 players taking a shot.
- The Islanders outrebounded the Bulldogs 52-34.
- Westbrook was one rebound shy of matching her career-high of 16 rebounds, which she set against Schreiner on Dec. 17, 2021. She was also one block shy of her career-high four blocks, set three separate times.
- The game marked Westbrook's 40
th career 10+ points game and 19
th career double-double.
- The Islanders used a different lineup from the first two games of the season, with Allen making her first start of the season and 37
th all-time.
- Daniels turned in career-highs of seven points and seven rebounds after sitting out last season due to injury.
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