LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Looking to extend its already-historic season further into the postseason, the No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team will take on No. 1 USC in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CT in the Galen Center.
It will be A&M-Corpus Christi's (23-8) first ever NCAA Tournament appearance after punching its ticket to the Big Dance with a 68-61 victory over No. 1 Lamar in the SLC Championship game. It was helped from a 46.8 percent team shooting as the Islanders have shot over 40.0 percent in seven of their last eight games.
Senior
Paige Allen was named the SLC Tournament MVP after turning in a career-high 22 points to go along with 12 rebounds for the game highs in both and the double-double in the title game. It came after she was pegged the "game hero" in the semifinal game where she scored the final eight points of that game to give the Islanders the 60-59 edge.
Graduate
Alecia Westbrook joined Allen on the All-Tournament Team after amassing 17 points in the finale which followed a 10-point, 10-rebound performance in the semifinal game. Senior
Mireia Aguado also scored in double figures in the drive towards the championship with 11 points.
The three of them have led the Islanders in scoring for the majority of the season, each currently averaging in double figures. Westbrook leads it with 11.4 ppg while Aguado and Allen follow with 10.9 and 10.2 points per outing, respectively.
Westbrook was named to the All-Southland First-Team and All-Defensive Team. Aguado was a Second Team selection while Allen found her name on the All-Defensive squad.
They are led by head coach
Royce Chadwick who will be making his eighth career NCAA Tournament appearance but first on the Island. The winningest coach in the Southland Conference, the league championship got Chadwick his 750th career win as a head coach.
The game will be available to watch live nationally on ESPN. It can also be heard live for free on 1440 AM K-E-Y-S with Doug Kesterson on the call.
NOTES
- It will be the first-ever meeting between A&M-Corpus Christi and the University of Southern California.
- The tournament title marked the third championship in five years after A&M-Corpus Christi won the regular seasons in 2019-20 and 2022-23, all coming under head coach
Royce Chadwick. Westbrook has been a part of it all as well, as the first regular season title came during her freshman year on the Island.
- It is the first time in program history that the Islanders won back-to-back championships after earning the regular season title last year. It is also the first time the program will ever make consecutive postseason tournaments after they played in the WNIT last year where they played at Wyoming.
- It is the fourth-ever postseason tournament appearance for A&M-Corpus Christi. In addition to making the WNIT last year, the Islanders played in the Women's Basketball Invitational in 2009-10 and the WNIT in 2004-05.
- The Islanders are 20-2 this year when they score 60 or more points. They have scored at least 50 points in every game this year, just the second time in program history that the Islanders scored at least that many in every regular season game. The only other time was in the 2001-02 season when they played 28 games that year.
- Chadwick will be making his eighth NCAA Tournament appearance as a head coach, but first as an Islander. He last won in the Big Dance in 2000 when he led No. 11 SFA to a 73-72 win over No. 6 Xavier in the first round before falling to No. 3 LSU despite leading at the half in Baton Rouge. That marked the last time a women's SLC team won in the NCAA Tournament.
Stay Social
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Islanders Women's Basketball) and follow the program on Twitter (
@Islanders_WBB) and Instagram (
@IslandersWBB).
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