CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team will host UTRGV at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the American Bank Center for game two of the South Texas Showdown, presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union.
The South Texas Showdown is an annual rivalry series in which A&M-Corpus Christi and UTRGV compete against each other in 12 sports. The Islanders lead the yearly series 5-1 as an institution, but trail this year 19-10 with each game counting as three points and one awarded for attendance.
UTRGV (4-3) took the first meeting on Tuesday after outlasting the Islanders (2-5) in overtime despite A&M-Corpus Christi shooting .727 from the field in the fourth quarter to come from behind and tie the game in regulation. Nine Islanders netted a field goal in the game with three scoring in double figures, including junior
Violeta Verano who scored 14 points.
Verano and junior
Paige Allen both recorded their first double figure scoring game against the Vaqueros, with Allen going 5-of-6 from the floor for 11 points.
With a win, the teams would split the series for the second year in a row. A&M-Corpus Christi is 27-17 all-time against UTRGV and 15-7 when the meeting is in Corpus Christi.
A&M-Corpus Christi will also be looking to extend its 16-game home-winning streak, the fifth longest in the nation. The Islanders have already added two more to that streak this season after defeating Texas Lutheran and Western Colorado where they outscored the opposition 133-84.
Redshirt senior
Makinna Serrata currently leads the offense for the Islanders, averaging 10.6 points per game. Senior
Alecia Westbrook is right behind her with 8.7 points per game while also averaging 8.3 rebounds per game.
Since Tuesday, UTRGV made a stop at HCU and beat the Southland team 68-51. The Vaqueros had three players score in double digits in the win, including Iyana Dorsey with 21 points.
Dorsey poured in 30 points in Tuesday's meeting with A&M-Corpus Christi and is now averaging 16.4 points per game to lead the Vaqueros.
The game can be watched live on ESPN+ with Doug Kesterson on the call. Tickets are on sale and can be purchased online at goislanders.com/tickets or by phone at 361-825-BALL (2255). The ticket office can also be reached via email at tickets@tamucc.edu.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi needs to break UTRGV's attendance number of 2,786 on Saturday to win the attendance point.
- Saturday will be the first and only non-conference women's basketball game to be played in the American Bank Center this season. The Islanders are 217-144 all-time at home and 89-72 at the American Bank Center.
- The Islanders rank second in the Southland Conference in combined opponent rebounds (35.0 rpg) and opponent three-point field goal percentage (.275). Individually, Westbrook is second in the league in rebounding (8.3 rpg) and in free-throw percentage (.813).
- The Islanders are 2-0 when they score more second-chance points and when they keep the opposition to under 60 points.
- All 15 players on the A&M-Corpus Christi roster have seen time on the court this year and at least 14 players have played in a singular game three times this season.
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