HOUSTON, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team got back on the right track in the first game of their road trip on Thursday, holding on down the stretch to take down Houston Christian by a final score of 62-55.
The Islanders (10-7, 2-4 SLC) snapped a three-game losing streak with the win, picking up their first victory since beating New Orleans on the road on January 2. It also continued their stretch of great performances against the Huskies (4-12, 1-6 SLC), going down as the ninth win in their last 12 meetings dating back to February 1, 2020.
Looking to build some positive momentum following their recent skid, the Islanders came out of the gates with a sense of urgency on Thursday, starting things off on a quick 10-2 run. This stretch was powered by some excellent shot making by the visitors, with graduate
Paige Allen knocking down a pair of midrange jumpers and senior
Annukka Willstedt burying the team's first shot from three-point range. HCU did manage to stem the tide a little bit after this by getting some nice shots to fall on the other end, but by the time the first quarter came to a close, A&M-Corpus Christi still saw itself holding on to a three-point advantage.
From here, it was the Allen show, with the Kansas City native almost singlehandedly driving the bus for the Islanders on offense into the break. Allen tallied nine of the team's 13 points in the second period, shooting 4-7 from the field while also grabbing four rebounds and dishing out an assist for good measure. This included a stretch of three consecutive makes late in the frame, as she drained another pair of midrange jumpers followed by her first triple of the evening to help the team head into halftime with its lead still at three points.
The biggest run of the day for HCU came right out of the break, as after A&M-Corpus Christi opened the second half with back-to-back buckets, the Huskies caught fire for 11 straight points to turn a seven-point deficit into a four-point lead, their first of the game to that point. Fortunately for the Islanders, though, they were able to keep things from getting away from them, scoring nine of the last 13 points of the third to not only close this gap, but also regain their lead once again. The biggest shot of this stretch came from junior
Samora Watson, who buried a midrange shot on the move at the buzzer to put the team up by multiple possessions heading into the final period.
Once the fourth quarter got underway, the two squads continued to trade blows, with the Huskies at one point leveling things back up at 49 apiece. The turning point for the Islanders came during a four-minute stretch in the middle of the period, when they began to impose their will on the glass. The team grabbed a whopping 10 offensive rebounds during this time, a performance spearheaded by the trio of Allen, graduate
Mireia Aguado and junior
Monae' Duffy, who each managed to secure three apiece. This effort not only helped on the scoreboard, as A&M-Corpus Christi used it to build its advantage back up to six, but it also helped take a significant amount of time off the clock, leaving HCU with insufficient means to mount another comeback effort and securing the narrow win for the Islanders.
By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Islanders had managed to outrebound the Huskies on the offensive glass 18-4, their biggest margin against a Division I opponent this season by a wide amount. This helped them get up 11 more shots than HCU, which managed to turn the math in their favor despite shooting just 38.7 percent from the field as opposed to the 41.2 percent mark posted by their opponents.
Individually, Allen was the star of the show for A&M-Corpus Christi, scoring 17 points and matching her season-high with 13 rebounds in what was arguably her best performance of the year. Aguado had a very nice day as well, pouring in 13 points of her own while also grabbing eight boards and dishing out a team-high four assists. Leading the way off the bench was Watson, who made her mark with seven points on 3-6 shooting in just 12 minutes of action.
The Islanders will now try to make it two wins in a row in the second and final game of their road trip, heading to San Antonio on Saturday to take on UIW at 1 p.m.
#ShakasUp
