CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Shaking off its first conference loss less than two days ago, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team posted a double-digit win over New Orleans 58-45 on Saturday at the American Bank Center.
The teams were tied 30-all at the half before a shift in momentum occurred in the third quarter for A&M-Corpus Christi (9-6, 4-1 SLC) who outscored New Orleans (2-12, 1-4 SLC) 15-4. That momentum carried over into the fourth as the Islanders took its biggest lead of the game 48-34 following
Jaeda Whitner's third long-range shot of the day.
A&M-Corpus Christi never gave up a double-digit lead the remainder of the game, improving to 221-146 all-time at home and 91-73 at the American Bank Center. It was the first game this season that the Islanders were tied with their opponent at the half.
Career performances from Whiter and senior
Alecia Westbrook led to team to its bounce-back victory. Whitner matched her career-high of three made three-pointers to help tally 11 points while 13 of Westbrook's 21 points came from the free throw line, also a matched career-high. Westbrook recorded her fifth consecutive double-double with the addition of 11 rebounds.
Junior
Paige Allen remained hot in conference play, submitting a 10-point and 6-rebound performance against New Orleans. She shot 50.0 percent from the floor.
New Orleans was led by Tara Green who turned in a team-high 11 points. She went 3-for-3 from the free throw line and grabbed three rebounds before fouling out after just 17 minutes of play.
The Privateers struck first to open the game 5-0 but a long-range shot by Allen tied it 5-5. The inside shot by freshman
Bruna Anguera completed a 7-0 spurt by the Islanders before the teams began exchanging buckets. A&M-Corpus Christi led 17-15 with 0:29 remaining, but the and-one chance by New Orleans gave the Privateers the 18-17 edge after the first quarter.
The three-pointer from junior
Sasha Shishkina pulled the Islanders back ahead 22-20 in the second and the layup by Allen kept a four-point edge 28-24 at the 3:27 mark. Two points from the charity line gave the Islanders 30 points, but New Orleans scored on their last possession of the half to tie the game 30-all heading to the break.
Free throws made up the majority of the third quarter for the Islanders, as the pair by Westbrook helped A&M-Corpus Christi back to a 38-34 advantage at the 2:27 mark. Though, the Islander defense kept the Privateers scoreless for the last 4:18 while Whitner, Westbrook, and Allen finally netted field goals to create a 45-34 lead by the end of the third.
The final quarter opened with the deep shot by Whitner to conclude a 13-0 scoring run and give the Islanders their biggest lead of the game at 48-34. Westbrook ran the floor to score two layups within 20 seconds of each other to remain ahead 55-41 with 4:51 remaining. The layup by senior
Hayle Campbell created another 14-point lead and although New Orleans managed a few more shots, the Islanders closed out the 58-45 victory.
The Islanders will hit the road for their first week of consecutive road conference games, first at Lamar on Thursday and then Houston Christian on Saturday.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi is now 16-3 all-time over New Orleans and remains undefeated at home against the Privateers 9-0. The Islanders have kept New Orleans to under 50 points in the last three meetings.
- The Islanders are 91-85 all-time in the month of January. Under head coach
Royce Chadwick, they are 95-81 all-time in the Southland Conference.
- The Islanders entered the night leading the Southland in rebounding margin (4.3) and will improve after outrebounding New Orleans 40-33.
- On Thursday night, Southeastern made got to the free throw line 17 times compared to A&M-Corpus Christi's 11, where they made seven more free throws than the Islanders which made up the difference of the final score. Today against New Orleans, the Islanders got 19 points from the charity strip and only sent the Privateers to the line eight times.
- Westbrook recorded her 26
th career double-double, eighth this season, and fifth in a row for every conference game this season. It was her second 20+ point performance this season, and she now leads the team in scoring at 11.7 points per outing in addition to 10.1 rebounds per game.
- Whitner sank three goals from beyond-the-arc to record her third career double figure scoring game. It was the third time this season she made three three-pointers and second in a row.
- Allen submitted her 22
nd career double digit scoring game, sixth this season and third in a row. She is averaging 10.8 points in league play and has grabbed at least five rebounds in each conference game this year.
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