NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team will put its five-game winning streak to the test to begin the second half of SLC play with rematches at New Orleans on Thursday in Lakefront Arena and Southeastern on Saturday in the University Center.
The Islanders (13-7, 8-1 SLC) ended the first half of the conference slate with the best record in the league to sit atop the Southland standings. It included two wins at home last week as the Islanders downed Nicholls and McNeese both by double digits.
The 86-47 win over Nicholls marked A&M-Corpus Christi's biggest win against a Southland opponent since Jan. 25, 2014, when the Islanders beat New Orleans 97-44. It was the first 30+ point victory over a conference foe for the Islanders since the 2019-20 season.
Following the game against McNeese, senior
Alecia Westbrook surpassed the 1,000-career point milestone to become the 11th Islander all-time to reach 1,000 career points. Simultaneously, she notched her 29th career double-double to tie the program all-time record and made her 368th free throw which broke the program's career record previously set at 367.
In conference play, Westbrook is averaging a double-double of 15.3 points and 11.5 rebounds. Also averaging in double figures is redshirt senior
Makinna Serrata with 12.6 ppg and junior
Paige Allen with 12.0 ppg. All three players have scored in double figures in at least seven of the nine conference games.
In addition, A&M-Corpus Christi garners four road wins in conference play as they are the only team to be undefeated on the road in SLC play.
The league-leading Islanders also rank first in the Southland in scoring margin (6.2), opponent field goal percentage (.361), opponent three-point field goal percentage (.278), combined opponent rebounds (32.4 rpg), and rebounding margin (5.4). They have outrebounded every conference opponent so far this year.
New Orleans (4-16, 3-6 SLC) and Southeastern (11-8, 6-3 SLC) played each other in back-to-back games last week and split the series. The Lady Lions lead the league in scoring defense, holding their opponents to 54.6 points, while the Privateers rank first in offensive rebounds with 13.7 per game. DeArica Pryor of New Orleans sits third in the SLC in scoring with 13.7 points per outing, though, the Islanders kept her to just eight points in the previous meeting.
Thursday's game is set for 5 p.m. while Saturday's game has been pushed to 1:30 p.m. Both games can be watched with a subscription on ESPN+, or heard live for free on 1440 AM K-E-Y-S with Doug Kesterson on the call.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi leads the all-time record 16-3 over New Orleans and 5-3 when the teams play in New Orleans. The Islanders have won the last eight meetings and have kept New Orleans to 53 points or less in all of them, including posting a 58-45 win over the Privateers earlier this season in Corpus Christi.
- A&M-Corpus Christi holds a 12-11 edge in the all-time record over Southeastern, though, the Lady Lions lead it 6-4 when the teams play in Hammond. The Islanders will be going for their first win over Southeastern in Hammond since the 2016-17 season.
- The Islanders are 86-73 all-time in the month of February. Under head coach
Royce Chadwick, they are 99-81 all-time in the Southland Conference.
- The Islanders are 12-1 (7-1 SLC) when they hold the opposition to under 60 points. They have held eight of nine conference opponents to under 60 points so far this year, and three to under 50 points.
- Nationally, the Islanders rank 19th in scoring defense (54.8), 28th in opponent field goal percentage (.361), and 36th in free throw attempts per game (20.75). Individually, Westbrook ranks 21st in defensive rebounds per game (7.4), 23rd in rebounds per game (10.1), 25th in double-doubles (10), 30th in total rebounds (202), 44th in free throws made (89). She leads the Southland in all of these categories.
- Freshman
Jaeda Whitner leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (.452). She is 16-of-34 from the arc in conference play, and has made multiple threes in nine game this year.
- A&M-Corpus Christi will look to post a 9-1 SLC record for the second year in a row through its first 10 conference games.
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