CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Improving to 8-1 in conference play, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team won its fifth consecutive game with the 78-61 win over McNeese where senior
Alecia Westbrook surpassed the 1,000-career point milestone on Saturday at the American Bank Center.
Westbrook's double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds powered her past 1,000 career points, now recording 1,010 and counting. She became the 11
th Islander all-time to reach 1,000 career points. Simultaneously, she tied the program record for career double-doubles at 29.
The Islanders (13-7, 8-1 SLC) outscored McNeese (8-12, 5-4 SLC) in every quarter to hold a lead for over 36 minutes of the game. A&M-Corpus Christi was paced with a 45.2 shooting percentage on the day for its fifth straight conference win. The Islanders who have shot over .400 from the field in all five games.
Alongside Westbrook in double figures were senior
Makinna Serrata and junior
Paige Allen. Serrata poured in the game-leading 21 points after going 7-of-12 from the floor while Allen added 11. All three players grabbed two steals each. Sophomore
Jaeda Whitner scored nine points while junior
Mireia Aguado went 4-of-5 from the field to match her season-high of eight points.
McNeese was led by the duo of Divine Tanks and Stephanie Guihon who scored 12 and 11, respectively. The Cowgirls entered the week leading the league in field goal percentage at .415 but the Islanders held them to just a .375 shooting on the day.
McNeese held a 4-2 lead to open the game before Westbrook tied things up on the fastbreak layup. The game remained tied 10-10 at the 2:49 mark before the Islanders scored a quick 10 points with the help of junior
Mireia Aguado's second chance buckets followed be the steal and long-range shot courtesy of Allen and sophomore
Jaeda Whitner. The spurt helped the Islanders lead it 20-12 through the first quarter.
Serrata on the fastbreak made it a 22-14 game at the 7:02 mark in the second quarter. McNeese would get back within five before the Islanders would pull ahead by double digits after back-to-back buckets by Westbrook, who hit her 1,000
th career point at the 4:08 mark to make it a 29-17 game. Allen netted a shot from deep to go up 36-22 and the teams headed to the break with the Islanders up 36-26.
McNeese powered through to get back within four to start the third quarter before the A&M-Corpus Christi timeout at 7:44. Out of the timeout, Whitner hit consecutive three-pointers to get the Islanders back up to a 42-32 lead. A pair of free throws helped the Cowgirls erase the double-digit lead, but the Islanders regained it with the layup by Westbrook and they would never dip below a 10-point lead the rest of the way.
Aguado scored in the paint to start the final quarter for a 60-43 lead. Westbrook's field goal produced the largest lead of the game at 76-56, though, the fourth had half of A&M-Corpus Christi's points come from the charity line as the Islanders finished out the 78-61 win.
The game concluded the first half of the conference slate. The Islanders now sit in sole first-place in the Southland rankings with the 8-1 record.
Next up, the Islanders will hit the road to Louisiana to rematch New Orleans on Thursday and Southeastern on Saturday. A&M-Corpus Christi is the only team in the Southland to be undefeated on the road in conference play.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 12-9 in the all-time record over McNeese and 9-2 when the teams play in Corpus Christi. The Islanders haven't lost a home game to the Cowgirls since the 2010-11 season.
- A&M-Corpus Christi entered the game leading the league in rebounding margin (5.3) and will improve after outrebounding the Cowgirls 40-32. The Islanders have outrebounded every conference opponent this season.
- The Islanders are now 95-85 all-time in the month of January. Under head coach
Royce Chadwick, they are 99-81 all-time in the Southland Conference.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 93-73 at the American Bank Center and 223-146 all-time at home where they have outscored the opposition 654-497 this year.
- Westbrook recorded her 29
th career double-double, 10
th this season and seventh in conference play. She is averaging a double-double of 11.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game on the year. She entered the game leading the league in rebounding and was right on par with 10 rebounds. Her 29 career double-doubles ties the program's all-time record.
- Serrata submitted her 46
th career double figure scoring game, 14
th this season and fourth in a row. Additionally, it was her seventh career 20+ scoring game and first this season. Serrata has scored in double digits in seven conference games this year, averaging 12.6 in league play.
- Allen turned in her 26
th career double-digit scoring game, 10
th this season and seventh in a row. She has scored at least 10 points in eight of the nine conference games. It comes after she recorded her first ever double-double in Thursday's game against Nicholls.
- Whitner entered the game leading the Southland in three-point field goal percentage at .446 and will improve after shooting 3-of-6 from the arc. It was her ninth time making multiple threes and second in a row to nail a trio of threes in a game this year.
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