CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Sitting in sole first-place in the Southland Conference, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team will host HCU on Thursday at 5 p.m. and Lamar on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the American Bank Center.
Thursday's game against HCU will be the annual Pink Game, sponsored by Busters Propane.
The Islanders (14-8, 9-2 SLC) sit a game ahead of the rest of the league for the second week in a row, despite coming off a 59-51 loss on the road at Southeastern.
A&M-Corpus Christi is led in scoring by seniors
Makinna Serrata and
Alecia Westbrook, who are both averaging 12.0 points this season. Additionally, Westbrook averages a double-double with a league-leading 10.2 rebounds per game. They both are shooting above .500 from the field in conference play.
On the year, Serrata turns in the team-best field goal percentage at .485 including .519 in conference, which ranks her in the league's top-five. She has made at least five field goals in the last six straight games.
Junior
Paige Allen has been a staple in conference play for the Islanders where she scores 11.1 points per game. From three-point range, freshman
Jaeda Whitner is .435 (30-of-69) which leads the league. She has made multiple three-pointers in a game 10 times this season and has nailed a trio of them five times.
The Islanders have dominated the glass where they have outrebounded their opposition in 10 of the 11 conference games, leading conference play in team rebounds (38.5 rpg), team defensive rebounds (27.3 rpg), and rebounding margin (8.2).
Overall, A&M-Corpus Christi leads the league in opponent FG% (.359) and opponent 3FG% (.275) and is nationally ranked in the top-30 for both. The Islanders are ranked 17
th nationally for scoring defense (54.7 ppg) while Westbrook ranks 16
th in defensive rebounds per game (7.5) and top-25 for rebounds per game, total rebounds (224) and double-doubles (11).
HCU (10-12, 5-6 SLC) is coming off an undefeated week at home with wins against Northwestern State 69-58 and Nicholls 68-55. N'Denasija Collins is one of the league's top scorers with 14.3 points per game.
Lamar (12-10, 6-5 SLC) has won four of its last five, with the loss being to the Islanders. Sabria Dean ranks second in the Southland in scoring with a 14.4 mark while Akasha Davis is shooting .560 from the field, a league best.
The Islanders will be going for the season sweep over both teams, after the Islanders played visitor in the first meetings and used big 24-point fourth quarters in both games to post come-from-behind victories.
Both games can be watched live with a subscription to ESPN+ with Doug Kesterson on the call.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi leads HCU 14-8 in the all-time record and 8-3 at home. The Islanders haven't lost a home game to the Huskies since the 2018-19 season. In the previous meeting, A&M-Corpus Christi went 10-of-12 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond-the-arc while holding HCU to just six points in the fourth for the win.
- Lamar leads the all-time record 18-13 against the Islanders but the teams are evened at 7-7 when playing in Corpus Christi. In the previous meeting, the Islanders trailed for 31:13 minutes of the game but overcame a 12-point deficit for their first win in Beaumont since the 2019-20 season.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 93-73 at the American Bank Center and 223-146 all-time at home where they have outscored the opposition 654-497 this year.
- 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 are 13-2 (8-2 SLC) when they hold the opposition to under 60 points. They have held their opposition to under 60 points in 10 of 11 conference games this year, four of which were kept to under 50.
- Westbrook is coming off a career week where she broke the program records for career double-doubles (30), defensive rebounds (598), and made free throws (378), while also becoming the 11
th all-time Islander to surpass 1,000 career points.
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@IslandersWBB).
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