CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team will switch up its venue in the middle of a three-game homestand, returning to the Dugan Wellness Center Saturday to host Rice at 1 p.m.
The Islanders (3-3) are coming off a 60-52 win over Texas State in their first game played at the American Bank Center this year. It is the first time in the all-time series with the Bobcats that the Islanders won back-to-back meetings after taking last year's matchup 56-47 in San Marcos. Prior to last season, the Islanders hadn't beaten Texas State since 2013-14 which was also the last time A&M-Corpus Christi scored at least 60 points against the Bobcats (68).
Junior
Tymberlin Criswell turned in a career night against the Bobcats, setting her all-time game highs in points (18), field goals made (5), three-pointers made (2), assists (4), rebounds (3) and minutes played (21). Graduate
Alecia Westbrook joined Criswell in double figures with 11 points and neared a double-double with nine rebounds.
Seven Islanders average over five points a game, with at least eight different players having scored in every game this year. Westbrook leads the team with a double figure average of 10.8 per game while freshman
Torie Sevier comes in behind with a 9.6 ppg average. Seniors
Mireia Aguado and
Paige Allen both average over seven points with 7.7 and 7.2.
Westbrook leads the league in rebounding for the third year in a row with 7.3 per game. Junior
Nabaweeyah McGill also ranks atop the conference with her 1.7 blocks per game. She has recorded multiple blocks in three games this year.
Westbrook is the sixth active career leader in the NCAA for rebounds with 966. She comes in right behind Angel Reese of LSU (1,026). Westbrook is on track to become the sixth active player in the NCAA to reach 1,000 career rebounds. She also finds her name in the active career leader list in free throw attempts (9th, 589), free throws made (9th, 441), double-doubles (13th, 36), and rebound average (23rd, 8.47).
The Islanders lead the league in opponent FG percentage (.356), assist:turnover ratio (1.06), blocked shots (4.50 bpg), and steals (11.33 spg). They have also outscored five of their six opponents in bench points, ranking 14th in the nation for bench points per game (33.0).
Rice (4-3) will bring momentum from a 30-point victory over Texas Southern Wednesday night. Much like Criswell, the Owls also have a player coming off a career night as Dominique Ennis poured in her career best 25 points. She leads the team in scoring with a 12.4 average.
The game can be streamed live with a subscription to ESPN+. Doug Kesterson will be on the call.
NOTES
- It will be the 9th all-time meeting between A&M-Corpus Christi and Rice. The Islanders will be going for their third win over the Owls and first since 2015-16 which they took 60-55 at home. It will be the first meeting played in Corpus Christi since the 2017-18 season.
- The teams last played each other in 2021-22 which Rice came out on top 69-61. The Islanders led by 10 with 2:05 to go in the third, but the Owls outscored them 26-14 in the fourth. In the game, Westbrook scored 15 points while senior
Violeta Verano matched her (at the time) career-high of assists with seven.
- The Islanders are now 3-1 at home so far this season, 228-149 all-time at home, and will return to the Dugan Wellness Center where they are 61-30 all-time. They have won at least 10 home games in both of the last two seasons.
- The Islanders are undefeated this season when they outrebound their opponent. They rank second in the Southland Conference in combined team rebounds (40.0 rpg) and team offensive rebounds (13.7 orpg).
- A&M-Corpus Christi has scored at least 50 points in every game so far this season. It is the first time since the 2021-22 season when the Islanders scored at least 50 points in the first six games of the season after they scored at least 50 in the first eight games.
- Westbrook has broken the program records for career free throws made, career free throws attempted, career defensive rebounds, and career doubledoubles last year alone and is chasing the program's career record of total rebounds, total points, and minutes played
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