COMMERCE, Texas – In the regular season finale, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team were crowned as the regular season champions after outlasting Texas A&M-Commerce 61-53 on Wednesday night at the Field House.
The Islanders (19-10, 14-4 SLC) are now co-owners of the title with Southeastern after going down to the wire with A&M-Commerce (12-18, 10-8 SLC). The Lions cut a 15-point deficit from the half to get within four in the fourth, but A&M-Corpus Christi held on for the 61-53 victory and crowning.
Southeastern holds the tiebreaker over the Islanders, who will take the number two seed in the SLC Tournament. It marks just the second-ever championship in program history, but second in four seasons after the Islanders won the 2019-20 regular season title outright.
The Islanders shot over 50 percent from the field in the first half to gain a 43-28 advantage at the break. The cushion proved to be helpful as A&M-Commerce outscored the Islanders 25-18 in the second half.
The Islanders dominated the paint where they outscored A&M-Commerce 40-28. In addition, A&M-Corpus Christi blocked the Lions seven times, a season-high. The Islanders improved to 11-1 (8-1 SLC) when they outblock their opponent.
Junior
Paige Allen turned in a season-high 17 points off eight made field goals, also a season-best. Senior
Alecia Westbrook also turned in 17 points as the duo accounted for 15 of the team's 27 field goals.
DesiRay Kernal matched their 17 points to lead the Lions. Laila Lawrence also scored in double figures at 10, with all of them coming in the second half to threaten the Islanders.
The teams were quiet for the first minute and a half before senior
Makinna Serrata made the inside shot. The steal by Allen led to the fastbreak bucket by junior
Mireia Aguado made it 10-6 to spur a 10-2 scoring run by the Islanders capped by back-to-back layups by Westbrook.
The run extended into the second quarter as the jumper by Allen made it 20-8 at the 8:39 mark. Junior
Violeta Verano and Allen sank consecutive triples before Westbrook drew the and-one off the putback to make it a three-point play for a 30-16 lead. The Islanders made five more shots in the paint to close out the first half with a 43-28 cushion.
The Lions kept the Islanders scoreless for nearly four minutes out of the locker room until the long-range shot fell for Verano at the 6:04 mark. Serrata knocked in a shot to keep A&M-Corpus Christi up 48-34 with 4:56 to go in the third. The Lions cut it within 10 for the first time since the first off the last second free throw as the teams headed to the fourth.
A&M-Commerce continued chipping at A&M-Corpus Christi's lead and got within four at the 8:56 mark, but it would be the closer the Lions would get. Westbrook got the lead back up to 59-49 out of the timeout as the Islanders held on.
With the number two seed, the Islanders will await their opponent in the semifinals of the SLC Tournament set for Wednesday, March 8 at 1:30 p.m. The championship match is set for Thursday, March 9 at 4 p.m. on ESPNU.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 2-0 all-time over the Lions, defeating A&M-Commerce twice in the last week. The Islanders held them to under 60 points in both games.
- The Islanders kept their opposition to under 60 points in 15 of the 18 conference games and ended the regular season 17-3 (12-3 SLC) when holding the opposition to under 60 points.
- Additionally, the Islanders improved to 12-1 (7-1 SLC) when they post a positive turnover margin.
- A&M-Corpus Christi concluded the regular season with an 8-1 road record in conference play this year, the best in program history since joining the league in 2006.
- The Islanders were predicted to win the league prior to the start of the season for the first time in program history, making it the first time the Islanders won the regular season after being picked to win it.
- The Islanders finished with a 19-10 overall record for the second season in a row.
- It marked the first game played in March where the Islanders now hold a 40-27 record in the month. Under head coach
Royce Chadwick, they are 105-84 all-time in the Southland Conference.
- It was the second game in a row that all 15 student-athletes saw time on the court. In the previous game, each athlete scored at least one point.
- Allen recorded her season-high 17 points off eight made field goals, one shy of matching her career-high. It was her 31
st career double figure scoring game, 15
th this season and 13
th in league play. She ends the regular season with 10.6 ppg average in conference play.
- Westbrook submitted her 60
th career double-digit scoring game, 21
st this season and 15
th in conference play. It was just her second time this season making seven field goals in a game, a season-high.
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