COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team picked up one of the biggest wins in program history Monday night, going on the road to College Station and taking down Texas A&M in the 2024-25 season opener by a final score of 62-56 in Reed Arena.
Monday marked the first time ever that the Islanders (1-0) defeated the Aggies (0-1), doing so in their ninth try. It marked their fourth ever victory over a Power Five program and the first since they defeated Alabama on November 14, 2009. The other two wins both came during the 2004-05 season, when the team took down Indiana and West Virginia that year.
A&M-Corpus Christi got their historic day off to a fast start, jumping out to a 17-11 lead in the first on the strength of a 10-0 run to close the quarter. The hot start was fueled by some great defense as the Islanders forced seven turnovers and scored 10 of their points in the quarter in those transitions. A trio of three pointers also helped build the advantage, with senior
Jaeda Whitner knocking down a pair and graduate
Mireia Aguado drilling one of her own to kick things off.
After the Islanders extended their strong play into the second and built their lead up to 10, Texas A&M started to slowly chip into that cushion as the game progressed. A quick burst of scoring near the end of the quarter brought the Aggies back to within six at the half, and after the home team ripped off a 20-9 run in the third, A&M-Corpus Christi suddenly found itself trailing by two heading into the final period of play.
The two teams traded punches once the fourth got underway, with the Islanders rattling off eight unanswered points to regain the lead but the Aggies responded with four of their own to level things back up at 51 apiece with 5:48 to go. The final blow came from the A&M Corpus-Christi side, starting with a huge three pointer from senior
Annukka Willstedt to put the team back out in front. A jumper on the next possession from junior
Samora Watson extended the lead up to four, and soon after, back-to-back tough buckets with under three minutes to play from junior
Bruna Anguera and graduate
Paige Allen helped seal the deal on the signature victory for the Islanders.
The win for A&M-Corpus Christi was powered by its defense, which forced 20 Texas A&M turnovers while holding the Aggies to 27.0 percent from the field (18-66) and 12.0 percent from long distance (3-25). The stifling performance helped the Islanders overcome a couple of different disadvantages on the other end, as the team was outrebounded 49-41 and took 13 less free throws than their opponents.
On the individual side, the Islanders were led by Allen, who notched her first double-double of the season by scoring 14 points on 6-12 shooting and grabbing 12 boards. The veteran stuffed her stat sheet in the fourth quarter with six points, two rebounds, two steals, and an assist down the stretch with the game in the balance.
It marks her eight career double-double but 51
st double figure scoring game and 10
th double figure rebounding game.
Joining Allen in double figures was Aguado, who poured in 14 points on 6-9 shooting while pulling down six rebounds. Beyond these two, Whitner knocked down a pair of shots from long distance to finish her day with six points, and newcomer
Monae' Duffy made the most of her 10 minutes off the bench by knocking down all three of her field goal attempts to finish with six points of her own while also grabbing five boards.
It is Aguado's 23
rd 10+ point scoring game of her career. She ended the 2023-24 season on a six-game streak of registering 10+ points, extending that streak to seven games now into 2024-25.
The team has seemingly picked off where they left off last season, extending history into yet another year under head coach
Royce Chadwick after the program won its first SLC Tournament Title to go dancing in the NCAA Tournament for the first ever time in 2023-24.
The Islanders will now hit the road again looking to build upon their opening win, heading to San Marcos to take on Texas State on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.
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