LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team completed the season sweep over McNeese after powering together a 24-point fourth quarter to pull away with the 78-64 victory Saturday in the Legacy Center.
The Islanders (15-7, 8-3 SLC) were down at the half, but relied on three quarters of 20+ point scoring to help finish with the double figure win margin. McNeese (4-21, 0-12 SLC) threatened through the third before A&M-Corpus Christi outscored the Cowgirls 24-14 down the stretch.
The Islanders dominated the glass, outrebounding the Cowgirls 40-22 including 16-4 on the offensive board. It is the second best offensive rebounding in SLC play for A&M-Corpus Christi this year, who previously pulled down 24 in the first meeting with McNeese.
Four of the five starters for A&M-Corpus Christi ended in double figures, with senior
Paige Allen leading the way with the 18-point, 10-rebound double-double. Senior
Mireia Aguado got back to her offensive prowess with 16 points while graduate
Alecia Westbrook scored 13 and senior
Violeta Verano tacked on 11.
It was quite the highlight for Westbrook, who made her 100
th consecutive start in today's game, all coming in an Islanders uniform.
Allen nailed the jumper out of the gate and the Islanders were off, fending off McNeese for a 9-7 lead following the and-one on Allen's putback. Westbrook extended the lead with the second-chance three-pointer before driving inside the lane on the next possession to push it to 14-9 at 4:45. Verano then went deep for three more before McGill went back up after grabbing the offensive board for a 19-9 advantage. Two trips to the free throw line kept the Islanders ahead 23-12 after the first.
McNeese went on a 14-1 run to reverse the score at 26-24 in the second. Junior
Maya Ellis put an end to the drought with the inside jumper, but McNeese responded right back to stay ahead. Down four, Aguado drove to the basket and drew the and-one to get back within one. Junior
Nabaweeyah McGill got fouled on the rebound and made her first free throw before sophomore
Bruna Anguera got the rebound as the Islanders swung it out to Willstedt on the perimeter for the four-point play and 33-32 lead. Though, the Cowgirls would answer with their own three before heading to the break.
Verano drilled another three out of the half to keep the Islanders within one and it was the buckets from Aguado and Allen kept it the same at 41-40. Westbrook went perfect at the stripe to finally pull the Islanders ahead and Aguado pushed it to 44-41 with the open lay-in in the paint. The teams ended up knotted at 50-all but Aguado made both free throws before converting on the last second turnover to have the Islanders up by four going into the final quarter.
Opening the fourth was a pair of takeaways by junior
Tymberlin Criswell who extended A&M-Corpus Christi's lead to 58-50. Verano continued her own barrage for yet another long-range shot to get the Islanders up 61-52. From there, the Islanders converted on nearly every possession to pull away big, going up as much as 77-62 off the fasbtreak lay-in from McGill with under two left to play.
The win secures A&M-Corpus Christi a spot in the Southland Conference Championships, set for March 11-14 back in Lake Charles. They will return home next weekend to host Northwestern State and Texas A&M-Commerce.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi now leads McNeese 15-9 in the all-time series and has won back-to-back road meetings with Cowgirls. In this year's first meeting with the Cowgirls, the Islanders had five players score in double figures for the first time since March 13, 2014, which ironically also happened against McNeese.
- The Islanders are 13-1 this year when they score 60 or more points. They have scored at least 50 points in every game this year, the first time since 2013-14 that the Islanders have scored at least that many in each of the first 20 games of the season.
- The Islanders entered the game leading the league in steals per game averaging 11.38 and were above par with 12 today. They are the only team in the conference to average 10+ steals per game.
- Allen turned in her season-high with the 18 points, her 11
th double figure scoring game of the year and 42
nd in her career. She has scored at least 10 points in each of the last three games and in eight of the 11 SLC games. It was her third career double-double.
- Aguado registered her 13
th double digit scoring game of the year, 15
th in her career, and ninth in conference play this year. She has significantly improved on her scoring average from last year from 4.1 ppg to 13.5 ppg, a team best.
- Westbrook submitted her 13
th double figure scoring game of the year, 74
th in her career, and seventh in SLC play this year. She made her 100
th consecutive start as an Islander, dating back to the 2018-19 season when she was a freshman.
- Verano is the fourth Islanders to make a trio of threes in a game this year. It was also her second game in a row to record four assists. It was her second double figure scoring game of SLC play this year after missing a few games.
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