CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas- The Texas A&M Corpus Christi women's basketball team emerged victorious once again against Northwestern State with a 68-52 offensive flurry Thursday night at the American Bank Center.
The Islanders (16-7, 9-3 SLC) outscored the Lady Demons (9-15, 5-8 SLC) in every quarter, holding a lead from two minutes into the game all the way to the end. The Islanders also created 28 Northwestern state turnovers, converting 23 points off those mistakes.
Another credit to its defense, A&M-Corpus Christi remains undefeated in conference play when holding Southland teams to under 60 points. The Islanders are now 13-0 overall this year when holding the opposition to under 60 points.
Five Islanders finished in double figures for the second time this season, four of which were in the starting lineup. Senior
Mireia Aguado led all scorers with 15 points. Graduate
Alecia Westbrook and senior
Violeta Verano each added 11 points while senior
Paige Allen and junior
Nabaweeyah McGill contributed 10 apiece.
They all aided the free throw shooting, as the Islanders shot 81.8 percent (18-22) from the stripe, the team's highest free throw percentage on the year.
Despite Northwestern State striking first with the long-range shot, Verano responded off a pair of free throws from Aguado to nail a three of her own, pulling the Islanders ahead 5-3 as the team never relented from there. Aguado converted on her own takeaway to push it to 7-3 at 6:10 before she sank the three-pointer in the next opportunity. McGill did damage on both ends, denying the Lady Demons as the Islanders scored in transition on the play before she got the putback at 2:33 for an Islanders' 16-8 lead at the end of the first.
The Islanders gained more offensive momentum and extended their lead in the second off a quick four points from Westbrook. Aguado once again completed a steal-and-score at 8:34, drawing the and-one in the process for a 23-12 lead. Junior
Tymberlin Criswell converted the second-chance with the inside jumper at 6:42 and Aguado hit another shot from downtown to help the Islanders to a 33-23 cushion at the break.
McGill got the offensive board and the bucket at 8:47 in the third before adding a block and defensive rebound in the sequence as Allen then drew an and-one on the play for a 40-26 advantage. Westbrook then hit the contested lay-in at 1:12 to up it to a 53-38 game.
Verano went deep again in the fourth, pushing A&M-Corpus Christi's lead to 60-45 with 7:33 remaining. The Lady Demons attempted a spark but the Islanders would shut down any rally as Criswell closed out the night with the inside jumper to cap the +16 win.
The Islanders will close the home weekend Saturday at 1 p.m. against Texas A&M-Commerce.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi improves to 18-5 all-time over Northwestern State and 9-3 when playing the Lady Demons at home. The Islanders have won all 10 of the last 10 meetings and haven't dropped a home game to NWST since the 2014-15 season.
- The Islanders have now posted two games this year where five players finished with at least 10 points, with the first coming against McNeese, also at home. Prior to the season, A&M-Corpus Christi hadn't had more than four players score in double figures since 2014.
- It marks the 10
th home win of the season for A&M-Corpus Christi. The Islanders have now won at least 10 home games in each of the last three seasons, including when they went an undefeated 14-0 in 2021-22.
- Aguado submitted her 14
th double figure scoring game of the year, 16
th in her career, second in a row, and 10
th in league play. Aguado has significantly improved from her last year's scoring average from 4.1 ppg to 10.3 ppg this season.
- Westbrook registered her 14
th double digit scoring game of the year, 75
th in her career, third in a row, and eighth in conference play. She is recently coming off her 100
th consecutive career start, now at 101 straight starts in an Islanders uniform.
- Verano turned in her sixth 10+ scoring game of the year, 22
nd in her career, and second in a row. It is the fifth time this year she had made multiple threes in a game and second in a row after making three at McNeese.
- Allen recorded her 12
th double figure scoring game of the year, 43
rd in her career, fourth in a row, and ninth in SLC play. She has also continued her streak of grabbing at least six rebounds in every conference game this year.
- McGill scored her seventh 10+ scoring game of the year, 16
th in her career, and fourth in SLC play. She entered the game leading the league in blocks per game (1.5) and will improve after swatting three shots tonight.
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