HAMMOND, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team couldn't carry over its first half success to the second where Southeastern outscored the Islanders down the stretch for the 59-51 edge on Saturday in the University Center.
The Islanders (14-8, 9-2 SLC) held a 29-22 lead at the half after shooting above 54.5 percent from the field in the first two quarters, though, Southeastern (13-8, 8-3 SLC) tied things up by the end of the third and took advantage of A&M-Corpus Christ errors in the fourth to come out on top.
The Islanders outshot the Lady Lions .420 to .396 but Southeastern was given 10 more chances at the charity strip where 12 of their points came. It marked the first road loss in conference for A&M-Corpus Christi this year, who was the last team in the Southland to lose a road contest in league play.
Both senior
Makinna Serrata and junior
Paige Allen scored 12 points off five made field goals. Serrata recorded her season-high four assists while Allen matched her career-high of two made three-pointers in a game. Freshman
Bruna Anguera notched six points along with her career-high seven rebounds.
Senior
Alecia Westbrook neared a double-double of nine points and seven boards. In the game before, she became the program's all-time leader in double-doubles with 30.
Southeastern was powered by the effort of Alexius Horne who turned in the game-high 24 points. Chrissy Brown grabbed 10 boards, seven of which were offensive, to help the Lady Lions to a 32-31 rebounding edge to become the first team to outrebound the Islanders in conference this year.
Anguera hooked it in to open the scoring before Serrata's jumper had the Islanders up 4-1. Southeastern took its first lead 6-4, but a seven-point burst by the Islanders was capped by the drive by junior
Mireia Aguado to reverse the score 11-6. The teams were evened at a 54.5 percent shooting, though, the Lady Lions got two points from the charity strip to hold a 15-13 edge after the first ten minutes.
Southeastern extended its lead to 17-13 to begin the second quarter, but Serrata hit back-to-back jump shots to tie things up. Following the missed shot by the Lady Lions, Allen banked in the field goal to take the lead back 21-20 and force a Southeastern timeout at the 6:44 mark. The shots kept falling for the Islanders out of the timeout as three-pointers by Allen and Whitner gave them a 29-22 advantage. Southeastern answered with a shot from deep at the buzzer, and the teams went to the break with A&M-Corpus Christi up 29-22.
The only free throws taken by the Islanders came in the third, as all six came within two minutes of each other. Westbrook made hers at the 5:40 mark to keep the Islanders ahead 38-35, but Southeastern tied things up with a three. Allen forced a turnover and found Serrata who converted on the fastbreak to take back a 42-40 lead with 3:27 remaining but the teams would head to the final quarter tied 44-all.
The Islanders took their final lead of the game 46-44 after Aguado hit the jumper as costly turnovers gave Southeastern possession for the majority of the fourth quarter who took a 54-48 lead with 3:35 remaining. A&M-Corpus Christi threatened late following the long-range shot by Allen and jumper by Westbrook to get within three 54-51, but the Lady Lions would close out the scoring for the 59-51 final.
The Islanders remain atop the Southland standings with the 9-2 record, one game ahead of second-place. They will continue conference play next week to host HCU and Lamar at home in the American Bank Center.
NOTES
- The teams are now evened 12-12 in the all-time record between them, but Southeastern improved to a 7-4 record in Hammond.
- The Islanders are 87-74 all-time in the month of February. Under head coach
Royce Chadwick, they are 100-82 all-time in the Southland Conference.
- The Islanders have held their opposition to under 60 points in 10 of 11 conference games this year, and four to under 50. They are 13-2 (8-2 SLC) when holding the opposition to under 60.
- Serrata submitted her 48
th career double figure scoring game, 16
th this season, sixth in a row and ninth in SLC play. She entered the game top-five in the league in field goal percentage at .484 and will improve after going 5-of-10 from the floor.
- Allen recorded her 27
th career double-digit scoring game, 11
th this season and ninth in league play. She is averaging 11.1 points and 6.5 rebounds in conference, having grabbed at least five rebounds in 10 of the 11 conference games. She entered the game averaging 1.8 steals per game and was right on par after grabbing two.
- Whitner entered the game ranked second in the league in three-point field goal percentage at .431 and will improve after going 2-of-4 from deep. It was her 10
th time this season to make multiple threes in a game.
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