LARAMIE, Wyoming – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team faced a tough Wyoming program in the first round of the WNIT and ultimately fell 75-41 to conclude one of the best seasons in program history on Friday in Arena-Auditorium.
The Islanders (19-12), the Southland Conference regular season champions, hung tough with the Cowgirls (23-10) in the first quarter and even maintained an early 7-6 lead. Though, Wyoming heated up beyond-the-arc as the team shot 40 percent from long-range on the night.
Most of A&M-Corpus Christi's scoring came from inside the paint, where they outscored Wyoming 26-22. The Islanders also held a 12-9 offensive rebounding advantage where they were able to convert nine second-chance points compared to Wyoming's six.
Senior
Alecia Westbrook, the SLC Player and Defensive Player of the Year, ended with a double-double of 11 points and rebounds. She entered the game nearly averaging two blocks per game and grabbed three. Junior
Paige Allen aided on the glass and grabbed six rebounds in addition to scoring six.
All-Conference First-Team selection fifth-year senior
Makinna Serrata also added six points. All 15 student-athletes saw time on the court.
Wyoming had three players score in double figures, including Tess Barnes who aided in the team's hot-shooting as she went 3-of-5 from the three. Allyson Fertig turned in the game-high 17 points and four blocks.
After Wyoming got the scoring started, Serrata fed Westbrook inside for the first two points of the game for the Islanders. The next possession would also add two for A&M-Corpus Christi as Allen laid it in on the fastbreak for the 4-2 lead. A long-range shot by senior
Hayle Campbell gave the Islanders a 7-6 advantage, but the Cowgirls responded with a 7-0 spurt to regain a lead that only grew.
Westbrook broke a scoring drought for the Islanders are the 7:43 mark in the second quarter to get the Islanders back within 22-13. Though, Wyoming would turn in another .500 shooting performance and got up to a 33-16 lead with 4:39 remaining in the half. Graduate
Kristen Daniels scored in the paint to give the Islanders 18, and despite A&M-Corpus Christi holding Wyoming scoreless for nearly three minutes, the Cowgirls took a 42-18 lead at the intermission.
Out of the break, freshman
Bruna Anguera hit the jumper and was followed by a bucket by Allen for a quick four points. Junior
Nabaweeyah McGill laid it in at the 6:40 mark to make it a 48-24 game, but the Islanders could only manage four free throws the rest of the quarter as Wyoming led it 61-28 through three.
A&M-Corpus Christi's best shooting of the night came in the fourth and it started with junior
Sasha Shishkina nailing the three on the fastbreak. Down 68-32, the Islanders got the offensive board and Allen put it back for the bucket. Wyoming knocked down a long-range shot before sophomore
Jaeda Whitner answered with her own beyond-the-arc with 1:44 to go.
Westbrook netted a field goal with nine seconds remaining, but Wyoming closed out the 75-41 win.
The Islanders earned the Southland's automatic bid to the WNIT after winning the regular season championship. The title came in the regular season finale where the Islanders defeated A&M-Commerce 61-53. The win also took A&M-Corpus Christi's road record in SLC play to 8-1, the best in program history since joining the league in 2006.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi made its second-ever postseason tournament appearance and first since 2005 when the Islanders went to the WNIT as a Division I Independent. The Islanders have won two regular season championships in four seasons.
- The Islanders ended with 19 wins for the second year in a row. It was also the second consecutive year that A&M-Corpus Christi secured a double-bye into the SLC Semifinals.
- A&M-Corpus Christi outscored 20 of its opponent in the paint this year and scored more second-chance points than 18.
- In league play, the Islanders shot .423 from the field as a team while keeping their SLC opponents to just a .358 mark, the best in the league. A&M-Corpus Christi posted the highest scoring margin through the conference slate (+10.83).
- Westbrook submitted her 35th career double-double and 16th this year. Earlier this season, she broke the program's career record for double-doubles, surpassing the previous record set at 29 by Elisa Beagle (05-10). She ends the year averaging a double-double of 12.5 ppg and 10.2 rpg, the only player in the conference to do so.
- Westbrook was named the SLC Player of the Year, in addition to repeating as the Defensive Player of the Year. It is the first time in program history that an Islander was named Player of the Year, as well as the first time a player repeated a superlative. Westbrook was named to the All-Defensive team for the second year in a row, also a first for the Islanders. Westbrook was the only player in the Southland to average a double-double on the year and became the 11th all-time Islander to reach 1,000 career points this year.
- She and Serrata were both named to the All-Conference First-Team for the second year in a row. It marks the first time the Islanders had a player be named to the First-Team multiple times, let alone two.
- Serrata made 141 field goals this year, taking her career total to 415 which ranks her sixth all-time in the program record book. Her 891 field goal attempts ranks her ninth all-time while her .466 field goal percentage ranks her 10th. She became the 12th all-time Islander to reach 1,000 career points this year.
- Whitner turned in a .389 three-point field goal percentage on the year which ranks her 10th in the program's singe-season record. As a newcomer, she made multiple three-pointers in a game 13 times this season, and has made at least a trio of them seven times.
- Allen entered the program's top-10 career record in steals this year, ending with 159 total which ranks her sixth. Westbrook has recorded 185 career steals, ranking her tied for third.
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