NATCHITOCHES, La. – Becoming a consistent headliner for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team, senior
Mireia Aguado controlled the game for a career-high 21 points to help secure a 50-45 win at Northwestern State Saturday in Prather Coliseum.
The Islanders (14-5, 7-1 SLC) got up to an 11-point lead in the fourth before a fiery Northwestern State (8-11, 4-4 SLC) team cut it back down to a one-possession game with 23 seconds to go. Despite struggling with turnovers down the stretch, the Islanders took better care of the ball in the final seconds as Aguado got sent to the line after the last-second hail Mary shot from the Lady Demons. She made both free throws to get A&M-Corpus Christi to 50.
From her 21 points, Aguado also matched her career-high of seven made field goals, set just two days ago at A&M-Commerce. Her seven made free throws mirrored her career best, as well.
The Islanders outscored the Lady Demons 30-16 in the paint and converted off turnovers for 12 points. Senior
Paige Allen helped with getting in for five of the team's 12 steals.
Northwestern State was guided by a more spread offense, with three players scoring 10+ points. They were led by the 14-points from Jiselle Woodson who played the entire 40 minutes.
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Alecia Westbrook's layup got the Islanders on the board after the Lady Demons jumped out to a 4-0 start. Down 9-5, Aguado drove to the board for the bucket before drawing the foul on the next possession to get within one. Northwestern State pushed back ahead by five but field goals by Westbrook and Aguado cut it to 14-13 at the end of the first.
Junior
Jaeda Whitner opened the second quarter with the long-range shot to finally put the Islanders ahead 16-14. The teams exchanged buckets and held a 22-22 tie before Westbrook's takeaway led to another scoring play by Aguado for the lead. Whitner went deep again at 1:57 as the Islanders held their biggest lead of the game 27-22 at the half.
Junior
Annukka Willstedt got involved out the break with the jumper to extend A&M-Corpus Christi's lead. Aguado then converted twice off steals by Westbrook and Allen to make it a 33-25 game at 6:55. The turnaround jumper by junior
Nabaweeyah McGill put the Islanders up 40-33 but the Lady Demons answered with a field goal to end the third.
Aguado got out fast in the fourth for the jumper inside the paint before senior
Violeta Verano sank her three-pointer for a 46-35 lead, forcing the Northwestern State timeout at 6:21. It proved to be well-timed, as the Lady Demons came out on a 10-2 run to make it a one-possession game with only 20 seconds remaining. With a three-point cushion after the free throw from Allen, Northwestern State threw up the shot from beyond-the-arc looking to tie but it couldn't hit the mark as Aguado got fouled on the way down with the ball. With under a second on the game block, Aguado made both free throws as the game ended 50-45.
The Islanders will return home to close out the first half of conference play. They host Lamar next Saturday, Feb. 3 at 1 p.m. in the American Bank Center.
NOTES
- The Islanders now lead Northwestern State 17-5 in the all-time record and have won all of the last ten meetings. They have not lost to the Lady Demons since 2015-16, holding NWST to under 60 points in every meeting since.
- The Islanders have scored at least 50 points in every game this season, the first time since 2018-19 that the Islanders have scored at least that many in each of the first 19 games of the season.
- A&M-Corpus Christi remained undefeated in conference play when leading at the half (7-0), and 5-0 when holding Southland teams to under 60 points. The Islanders are 12-0 overall this year when holding the opposition to under 60 points.
- The Islanders entered the game leading the SLC and ranked #8 overall in the NCAA in FG% defense (.339) and will improve after holding the Lady Demons to just a .288 clip.
- It mark's Aguado's first-ever 20+ point scoring game of her career, surpassing her previous best of 15 points. She has scored in double figures 11 times this year including in the last five straight games. She is averaging a team-best 13.1 ppg in SLC play this year, significantly improving from her last year's mark of 4.1 ppg.
- Allen submitted her first 5+ steal game of the year, but seventh in her career. She also grabbed seven rebounds on the day, continuing her streak of grabbing at least six rebounds in every SLC game this season.
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