CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Improving to 11-0 at home on the season, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball program topped New Orleans 56-46 on Thursday in the Dugan Wellness Center.
A&M-Corpus Christi (13-7, 5-1 SLC) has won seven of its last eight games and remains one game out of first-place in the Southland Conference standings.
The low scoring affair was ultimately decided by one quarter of play where the Islanders outscored UNO (1-12, 0-6 SLC) by a 19-10 margin in the second quarter. It led to a 30-19 halftime lead and A&M-Corpus Christi's defense kept the door shut in the second half.
For the game, A&M-Corpus Christi shot .500 from the floor and limited the Privateers to a .302 mark. The Islanders also posted a wide 39-24 rebounding margin.
Senior
Makinna Serrata stayed hot with a game-high 21 points. It was her third 20-plus scoring outing in the last four games as she was 9-of-13 from the field.
A double-double came from junior
Alecia Westbrook who finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds. She also swatted three blocks.
The Privateers were paced by Jomyra Mathis and Tiana Gipson who ended with 12 points apiece.
UNO's only lead of the night came on the first basket of the game. A&M-Corpus Christi answered with a 7-0 run to leap ahead after an old-fashion three-point play by Serrata. The Privateers trimmed it to a 10-9 deficit, but the Islanders were still ahead 11-9 at the end of the first after a free throw by Westbrook.
A&M-Corpus Christi opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run to go up 18-9 after a lay-up by Westbrook. After the Privateers cut it to 21-19, the Islanders went on a 9-0 spurt which was capped by a lay-up by sophomore
Paige Allen to lead 30-19 with 1:23 left, and that remained the score at the break.
A fast break lay-up by Serrata increased it to 34-21 early in the second, but UNO went on an 8-0 run to get back in it 34-29 with 6:25 remaining. The Privateers came as close as 36-34 at the 3:17 mark when Serrata hit a big three-pointer. Sophomore
Mireia Aguado drained a free throw with five seconds left to make it 43-38 heading to the fourth.
The Islanders got their lead back into double-figures 48-38 after a lay-up by junior
Hayle Campbell with 4:19 to go in the fourth. A pair of free throws by Westbrook made it 54-42 with 1:40 remaining to put it out of reach.
A&M-Corpus Christi will have Saturday off from competition and will return to the court next Thursday when it travels to UNO for a rematch at 5 p.m.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 14-3 all-time against New Orleans and has won the last six meetings. The Islanders are 8-0 at home against the Privateers.
- The Islanders have yet to allow more than 61 points in a conference game. It was the third time they held an SLC opponent to under 50 points.
- The Islanders are a perfect 11-0 at home this year where they've outscored the opposition 770-545. They are now 212-144 all-time at home and 55-28 in the Dugan Wellness Center.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 5-1 in conference for the second time in three years.
- Head coach
Royce Chadwick is up to 205 career SLC victories and is chasing James Smith's mark of 210 wins at Northwestern State from 1987-04 to become the winningest coach in league history. Chadwick's career SLC record is 205-98 including 13 wins at Sam Houston, 111 at Stephen F. Austin and 81 at A&M-Corpus Christi.
- A&M-Corpus Christi entered the game leading the league in assists (14.95 apg), field goal percentage defense (.363) and rebounding margin (+5.6) and will improve upon all three marks.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is now 12-0 when leading at half and 12-0 when it outrebounds the opposition.
- Westbrook has grabbed at least eight rebounds in every game this season. She tallied her 15th career double-double and seventh this year. It was also her 32nd career double-figure scoring game and 23rd career double-digit rebounding performance.
- Serrata entered the game ranked third in the SLC in field goal percentage with a .494 clip and was .692 on the night. She etched her 24th career double-figure scoring game and 13th this year. It was also her fifth 20-plus scoring performance of the season.
- Sophomore
Violeta Verano dished out a career-high nine assists, which topped her previous high of seven. She entered the game leading the league in assists with 4.2 per game.
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