CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas- The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team capped off their regular season with a huge 65-43 victory Wednesday night on their home court against UIW, securing the two-seed and the coveted double-bye in the Southland Conference Tournament.
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Hitting their stride with optimum timing, the Islanders (21-8, 14-4 SLC) concluded their best regular season in four years with a hot night of shooting against the Cardinals (19-10, 12-6 SLC) to secure a bye straight to the semifinals of the SLC Championships for the third year in a row.
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The Islanders were hot from beyond the arc tonight, connecting on seven with three of them coming from junior
Annukka Willstedt. She neared double figures with the nine points, while fellow junior
Nabaweeyah McGill led all scorers for the second straight game with 14 points. Seniors
Mireia Aguado and
Paige Allen followed closely behind with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
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The two combined to go 11-of-18 from the floor to help A&M-Corpus Christi's overall 43.9 percent shooting mark.
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Defensively, it is the fourth time in conference play that the Islanders held their opponent to under 50 points, book ending the SLC slate with two of those instances after they opened league play holding HCU to 49 points. A&M-Corpus Christi remained undefeated when holding SLC opponents to under 60 points this season.
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In the opening quarter, both teams took time to find a rhythmic offense against a tenacious defense, exchanging baskets nearly the whole 10 minutes. Willstedt and McGill helped ignite the scoreboard with consecutive three-pointers, propelling the Islanders into a slight 14-12 lead after the first.
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After UIW tied it up to start the second, the Islanders embarked on a commanding 9-0 run capped by the contested lay-in at the rim by Allen for a 25-19 lead at 4:05. Back-to-back buckets by McGill sent the momentum with A&M-Corpus Christi to the locker room as they led it 31-19 at the break.
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Willstedt came out firing in the third, sinking two more crucial three-pointers to push the Islanders' lead up to 41-23 at 6:45. A second-chance opportunity was converted by Aguado with the inside jumper at 3:28 as the Islanders went up 45-28.
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That lead kept building in the fourth, as Aguado and senior
Violeta Verano tacked on six more between a pair of threes. With 4:41 remaining, McGill went up for the putback to get the Islanders ahead by 57-37 and their lead never dipped below 20 the rest of the way.
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A&M-Corpus Christi leads UIW now 21-2 all-time and has never lost a home game to the Cardinals with the 11-0 advantage. The Islanders finish the year with the 14-3 home record, combining for a 38-7 record on their home court over the last three seasons.
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The Islanders will now await their opponent for the semifinals of the tournament next week, set for March 13 at 1:30 p.m. in Lake Charles, La.
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