CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Nearing the end of the regular season, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team will host Texas A&M-Commerce at 5 p.m. on Thursday and Northwestern State at 12 p.m. on Saturday in its final week of home conference games.
Saturday will be the last home game of the season for the Islanders and will be part of the university's homecoming week celebration. It will also be senior night, where A&M-Corpus Christi will recognize
Alecia Westbrook,
Makinna Serrata,
Hayle Campbell, and
Kristen Daniels.
The Islanders (16-10, 11-4 SLC) are coming off an undefeated week on the road, beating Nicholls 59-50 and McNeese 75-62 for the season sweeps over both teams. The bench stepped up for the Islanders in both road games, as 10 different student-athletes put points up to outscore Nicholls 27-12 off the bench while 12 players scored against McNeese for a 33-25 bench-point advantage.
The victory at Nicholls officially clinched a berth into the Southland Conference Championships for A&M-Corpus Christi, set for March 6-9 in Lake Charles. With the 11-4 record, the Islanders have also clinched a first-round bye in the tournament.
Sophomore
Jaeda Whitner contributed 12 of A&M-Corpus Christi's bench points against Nicholls as she came off the bench and nailed four three-pointers, a career-high. She seconds the Southland in 3FG percentage with a .405 mark (34-of-84) and has made multiple three-pointers in a game 11 times this season.
Serrata leads the Islanders in scoring with a 12.7 ppg mark. She is shooting .484 from the field (119-of-246) this year to rank in the league's top-five. She is shooting .507 in conference play.
She is one of two players averaging in double figures, as Westbrook posts a 12.3 ppg mark along with 10.0 rpg to average a double-double. Additionally, Westbrook nationally ranks 20th in defensive rebounds per game (7.4), 26th in rebounds per game (10.0), 26th in double-doubles (12), 25th in total rebounds (260), 33rd in free throws attempted (155), and 35th in free throws made (117). She leads the Southland in all of these categories.
A&M-Commerce (12-15, 10-5 SLC) has also clinched a spot into the SLC Tournament for their first year in the Southland. The Lions are coming off a 77-70 win at Nicholls on Monday in a reschedule powered by Zaria Collins' 23 points off the bench. The Lions score an average of 66.3 ppg, a conference best.
Northwestern State (11-14, 7-8 SLC) are still fighting for a spot in the conference tournament after dropping three of its last five games. Candice Paramore is averaging a team-best 13.2 ppg, though, she did not play in the first meeting this season between the Lady Demons and Islanders.
The Islanders currently sit in second place in the Southland rankings with three games left in the conference slate, one game behind Southeastern.
Thursday's game can be streamed live on ESPN+ while Saturday's matchup will be available to watch on ESPN3 with Doug Kesterson on the call for both.
NOTES
- It will be the first ever meeting between A&M-Corpus Christi and A&M-Commerce. The Islanders lead Northwestern State 15-5 all-time and have won the last eight, including 65-50 in this year's conference opener in Natchitoches.
- In game one against the Lady Demons, the Islanders shot 13 more free throws. A&M-Corpus Christi is 8-0 SLC when they shoot more free throws than the opposition.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 93-75 all-time at the American Bank Center and 223-148 at home where they have outscored the opposition 774-625 this year.
- The Islanders are 89-76 all-time in the month of February. Under head coach
Royce Chadwick, they are 102-84 all-time in the Southland Conference.
- A&M-Corpus Christi nationally ranks 20th in scoring defense (55.5). They also rank 35
th in opponent 3FG percentage (.276) and 40th in opponent field goal percentage (.370), which they lead the Southland in both.
- The Islanders are 14-3 (9-3 SLC) when they hold the opposition to under 60 points. They have held their opposition to under 60 points in 12 of 15 conference games, four of which were kept to under 50. Additionally, the Islanders have outrebounded the opposition also in 12 of 15 conference game this year.
- Westbrook and Serrata were tabbed to the SLC Preseason All-Conference First-Team. Both surpassed the 1,000-career point milestone this season at the American Bank Center, with Westbrook reaching it on Jan. 28 against McNeese while Serrata achieved it exactly two weeks later on Feb. 11 against Lamar.
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