CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Currently atop the Southland rankings, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team will look to bring its momentum home to the American Bank Center as it hosts Nicholls at 5 p.m. on Thursday and McNeese at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The Islanders (11-7, 6-1 SLC) are tied for first with A&M-Commerce in the Southland rankings after an unbeaten week on the road. They posted 24-point fourth quarters in both games to win in comeback fashion at Lamar and HCU and are now the only Southland team to be undefeated on the road in conference play after also garnering wins at Northwestern State and UIW.
Junior
Paige Allen and seniors
Alecia Westbrook and
Makinna Serrata are all averaging in double figures in conference play. Westbrook leads it with 16.0 ppg followed by Allen at 11.6 ppg and Serrata at 10.9 ppg.
Nationally, Westbrook ranks 20th in defensive rebounds per game (7.3), 23rd in rebounds per game (10.1), 25th in double-doubles (9), 32nd in total rebounds (181), 45th in free throws made (81), and 50th in free throw attempts (105). She leads the Southland in all these categories.
Freshman
Jaeda Whitner is 10-for-23 from distance in conference play and ranks third in the league in three-point percentage at .431. In the top-five, Westbrook ranks in free throw percentage (.771) and steals per game (2.0 spg) while Allen also ranks in steals per game (1.8 spg).
The Islanders nationally rank 19th in scoring defense, holding their opponents to just 54.8 points per game. They are 11-1 (6-1 SLC) when they hold the opposition to under 60 points, holding every conference opponent to under 60 points so far this year and two to under 50 points.
Nicholls (4-14, 1-6 SLC) garners a conference win over Lamar, where the Colonels topped the Cardinals 80-74 in overtime. The win was fueled by 20+ point scoring performances by Lexi Alexander, who ranks third in the league in scoring, and Deonna Brister, who is the reigning SLC Player of the Week.
McNeese (7-11, 4-3 SLC) is on a three-game winning streak after earning a pair of wins last week against Nicholls. The Cowgirls rank first in the league in scoring (66.9 ppg) and field goal percentage (.415), though the A&M-Corpus Christi defense has held its opponents to just a .365 shooting average, a conference best.
Both games can be watched with a subscription on ESPN+ with Doug Kesterson on the calls.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi leads the all-time record 12-9 over Nicholls and 8-2 when the teams play in Corpus Christi. The Islanders haven't lost a home game to the Colonels since the 2015-16 season.
- Against McNeese, the Islanders lead 11-9 all-time and 8-2 at home. The Islanders haven't lost to the Cowgirls at the American Bank Center since the 2010-11 season.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 91-73 at the American Bank Center and 221-146 all-time at home where they have outscored the opposition 490-389 this year. The last home game featured a double-digit win over New Orleans.
- The Islanders are 93-85 all-time in the month of January. Under head coach
Royce Chadwick, they are 97-81 all-time in the Southland Conference.
- Leading the league in rebounding margin (4.6), A&M-Corpus Christi has outrebounded every Southland opponent this year. The Islanders are 10-3 (6-1 SLC) when they outrebound their opponents.
- The Islanders have outscored their conference opponents 232-172 in the second half this year.
- A&M-Corpus Christi was predicted to win the league after garnering 11 first-place votes in the SLC Preseason Poll. It would be its second Southland title in four years after winning the regular season in 2019-20.
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@IslandersWBB).
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