HOUSTON – In a tale of two halves, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball program went cold in the second to drop a 58-54 decision to HBU on Saturday at Sharp Gym.
A&M-Corpus Christi (17-9, 9-3 SLC) built a 36-21 halftime lead over HBU (14-9, 10-2 SLC), but just could not get buckets to fall in the second. The Islanders shot .500 from the field in the first but .269 in the second.
Conversely, the Huskies were 0-for-5 from three in the first half and 6-of-10 in the second.
Junior
Alecia Westbrook registered 14 points and eight rebounds. Senior
Makinna Serrata, the reigning Southland Conference Player of the Week winner, tallied 14 points and five rebounds.
The Islanders posted a 34-30 rebounding advantage and a 26-12 edge in points in the paint. Though, the Huskies got to the free throw line where they were 22-of-26 (.846).
HBU's Marilyn Nzoiwu posted a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds. Timia Jefferson also scored 13 points.
A lay-up by Serrata began a 6-0 run for the Islanders to start the game, but HBU responded with a 7-0 spurt to lead 7-6 at the 5:14 mark. A&M-Corpus Christi responded with threes by sophomore
Paige Allen and Westbrook, and a jumper by sophomore
Nabaweeyah McGill to go back up 14-7 with 3:17 left. The Huskies scored the next six points, but Serrata hit a field goal in the closing seconds to stay ahead 16-13 at the end of one.
A driving lay-up by Westbrook and a put-back by McGill gave A&M-Corpus Christi a 22-15 edge with 6:05 to go in the second. A steal and lay-up by junior
Hayle Campbell, followed by a transition bucket by sophomore
Mireia Aguado upped it to 30-19 with 4:01 remaining. The Islanders ended the half on a 6-0 run which included another last-second basket by Serrata to lead 36-21 at the intermission.
A lay-up by Westbrook and a free throw by sophomore
Violeta Verano made it a 39-21 game early in the third.
HBU got back in it with a big 13-0 run to cut it to 39-34 at the 4:18 mark. After a drive by Serrata ended the spurt, HBU further trimmed it to 41-39 with 1:09 left after a pair of free throws and a three. Two throws by Aguado kept the Islanders in front 43-39 heading to the fourth.
A field goal by McGill had A&M-Corpus Christi ahead 45-40 with 9:12 to go in the final quarter. However, the Huskies scored the next four to cut it to 45-44 with 5:31 remaining. A put-back by senior
Diamond Wraggs and an old-fashion three-point play by Westbrook made it 50-44 at the 3:28 mark.
The Huskies answered with an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the half 52-50 as the Islanders called timeout with 1:57 to go. A lay-in by Westbrook evened it at 52, but a three by Huskies had them up 55-52 with a minute left. After HBU got a stop defensively, it drew a foul and made a pair of free throws to go up by five.
A&M-Corpus Christi hosts Nicholls at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the American Bank Center and the Islanders will be going for their first undefeated home season in program history. They were 13-1 in 2019-20. A&M-Corpus Christi currently holds the seventh longest active home winning-streak in the nation and has outscored the opposition 892-650 at home this year.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi took two out of three from HBU this year, but one counted as a non-conference game after the SLC Preseason Tipoff was canceled. The Islanders beat the Huskies 61-56 at the Dugan Wellness Center and 57-44 in an SLC game at the American Bank Center.
- The Islanders are now 13-8 all-time against HBU.
- A&M-Corpus Christi dropped to 15-1 (7-1 SLC) when leading at half and 15-8 (8-1 SLC) when outrebounding the opposition.
- Serrata recorded her 30th career double-figure scoring game, 19th this year and eighth in a row. She was 6-of-12 (.500) from the field after entering the game ranked fourth in the league in field goal percentage (.490).
- Westbrook submitted her 36th career double-figure scoring game and 19th this year. Westbrook has pulled down at least eight rebounds in 24 of 26 games this season.
- Verano entered the game leading the league in assists (4.7 apg) and distributed five. Verano has dished out at least a pair of assists in every game this year.
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