CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team couldn't contain a spread out and hot-handed Rice offense and fell 84-56 Saturday in the Dugan Wellness Center.
A slow start plagued the Islanders (3-4) as Rice (5-3) went up 9-0 quick for the early control. A&M-Corpus Christ would battle back within four late in the first, but Rice would not tolerate anything closer the rest of the game as five Owls finished in double figures for the win, outshooting the Islanders .459 to .358 from the field.
Rice also got past A&M-Corpus Christi's typically locked down three-point defense, sinking 10 from long-range for the distanced attack. A&M-Corpus Christ would only edge the Owls from inside the paint where the Islanders outscored them 30-28.
Senior
Paige Allen and junior
Tymberlin Criswell both put up 10 points each as the two played the most minutes on A&M-Corpus Christi's side. Junior
Nabaweeyah McGill turned in a nine-point, eight-rebound, one-block day while sophomore
Bruna Anguera also contributed nine points.
The game was led in scoring by Dominique Ennis who poured in 14 points and was joined by four other teammates in double figures, including Maya Bokunewicz who was a perfect 4-of-4 from long range.
Rice held a 9-0 lead out of the gate as the Islanders finally got on the board at the 6:30 mark off the steal and score by Criswell. Down 13-2, Allen drew the foul and sank her two free throws to spur some momentum for the Islanders. Another fastbreak bucket by Criswell off the turnover made it 13-6 at 4:18 while McGill laid it in to complete a 6-0 run. Criswell's spin move had her connect with the net again before Anguera scored two points off a turnover to get the Islanders within four at 16-12. Though, Rice created space to finish the first up 22-14.
The Islanders would score first in the second, as Allen drove inside for the bucket. Though, it was met by the first of three Rice three-pointers in the quarter. The second came at the 6:24 mark as Rice wen up 30-19 before A&M-Corpus Christi finally nailed its first three of the game when junior
Jaeda Whitner took the shot at 5:41 to trail by seven. Rice fired back four points to go up 34-23 and they would lead the rest of the game by at least double figures, including a 46-28 advantage at the half.
Out of the break, graduate
Alecia Westbrook grabbed the rebound off a missed Islanders free throw as Whitner went deep again for the extra points, down 46-32. Anguera got a pair of layups while free throws from Westbrook and senior
Violeta Verano got them on the board, but Rice held a 62-43 lead going into the fourth.
The three-pointer from Verano got A&M-Corpus Christi to 50, but Rice outscored the Islanders 22-13 in the final 10 minutes to finish on top 84-56.
It was the middle of a three-game homestand for the Islanders, who will return to the American Bank Center Tuesday night to host UTRGV. The 7 p.m. game will be the first of two meetings this year as part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union.
NOTES
- It marked the ninth all-time meeting between the Islanders and Rice and first to be played in Corpus Christi since the 2017-18 season.
- The Islanders are now 3-2 at home this season, 228-150 all-time at home, and 61-31 in the Dugan Wellness Center. They have won at least 10 home games in both of the last two seasons.
- 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.
- The Islanders entered the game ranked second in the league in team offensive rebounds per game at 13.7 and will improve after grabbing 16 for 18 second chance points.
- Criswell registered her second double figure scoring game of both the season and her career. It came straight after she turned in a career night against Texas State with 17 points, four assists, three rebounds. She topped her career-high of minutes played with 27, which was set at 21 from the previous game.
- Allen submitted her third double digit scoring game of the season and 34
th in her career. She also set her season-high of three assists.
- Whitner made a pair of threes for the second time this season. Last year, she made multiple three-pointers in a game 13 times, and made at least a trio of them seven times to help her became the first Islander since the 2015-16 season to rank in the program's top-10 for three-point field goal percentage (.398) in a single-season
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