CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - To open the New Year, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team will take on the reigning SLC Tournament Champions of UIW in back-to-back games this week, hosting the Cardinals on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the Dugan Wellness Center before heading to San Antonio for a 2 p.m. tip on Saturday.
Wednesday will be the conference home opener for the SLC preseason favorites of A&M-Corpus Christi (6-6, 1-0 SLC) who are coming off a 65-50 league-opening win on the road at Northwestern State. The Cardinals (5-6, 0-1 SLC) also opened conference play on the road but fell short 64-61 to Texas A&M-Commerce.
Two of the Southland's top three scorers from last season, seniors Makinna Serrata and Alecia Westbrook, picked up where they left off in league play as both scored in double figures against the Lady Demons. Westbrook led the way with her 22nd career double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds while Serrata was right behind her at 16 points.Â
Serrata has scored in double figures in eight games this season. She is the only Islander to average in double digits with 11.3 per game.
A&M-Corpus Christi leads the Southland in rebounding margin (3.1) and combined opponent rebounds (34.0 rpg), while ranking second in scoring margin (2.5), opponent field goal percentage (.370), opponent three-point field goal percentage (.276), assist:turnover ratio (0.77), and assists (13.17 apg).
Individually, Westbrook leads the Southland in rebounding with 9.2 rpg while sophomore Jaeda Whitner leads the league in 3FG percentage at .448. Westbrook ranks fourth in free throw percentage (.804) and junior Violeta Verano ranks fifth in both assists (3.2 apg) and assist:turnover ratio (1.0).
UIW earned its first trip to the NCAA Tournament last season after securing the SLC Tournament title. The Cardinals have one of the top defenses in the league this year, leading it in defense scoring, opponent field goal percentage, and opponent three-point field goal percentage.
Nina De Leon Negron leads UIW in scoring at 12.5 points per game to rank top-5 in the conference. She has scored in double figures the last five straight games.
The Islanders defeated UIW four times last season and kept the Cardinal to less than 55 points in each meeting. A&M-Corpus Christi is 6-0 this season when holding the opposition to under 60 points.
It will be the final game in the Dugan Wellness Center this season. Both games this week will be streamed live on ESPN+. Tickets are on sale and can be purchased online at goislanders.com/tickets or by phone at 361-825-BALL (2255). The ticket office can also be reached via email at tickets@tamucc.edu.
NOTES
-Â A&M-Corpus Christi leads the all-time record 17-2 over UIW and is an undefeated 9-0 when the teams play each other in Corpus Christi.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 219-145 all-time at home and 58-29 in the Dugan Wellness Center. The Islanders have outscored the opposition 327-240 at home this year.
- The Islanders are 5-0 when they post a positive turnover margin and score more second chance points.
-Â All 15 student-athletes have seen time on the court, with at least 14 Islanders playing in a single game four times this year.Â
- A&M-Corpus Christi was predicted to win the league after garnering 11 first-place votes in the SLC Preseason Poll. Serrata and Westbrook were tabbed to the Preseason All-Conference First-Team.
- Both Serrata and Westbrook are on track to reach the 1,000 career points-milestone this season. Serrata has 837 career points and Westbrook has 890.
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