CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team caught fire in the opening game of its final homestand of the season on Thursday, putting together one of its best offensive games of the season en route to a 90-76 victory over New Orleans.
The 90 points that the Islanders (14-15, 6-12 SLC) scored matched their second-highest total of the year, tying their mark from December 29 against Schreiner and sitting behind only the 98 that they scored all the way back on November 12 against Sul Ross State. As for Division I opponents, it was their best showing of the season by a good amount, passing their 78-point performance in a win over the Privateers (3-24, 3-15 SLC) in their last meeting on January 2.
The fireworks from the Islanders began in the opening quarter, jumping out to an early lead by shooting a red-hot 60 percent from the field in the first. This was especially true over the final four minutes of the period, as after they fell behind by two, they ripped off 10 of the final 13 points after converting on four of their final six shots and getting to the line for a pair of free throws. The attack on offense proved to be very balanced, with graduate
Nabaweeyah McGill leading the way with six points and five other players getting on the board with at least one bucket.
A&M-Corpus Christi would go on to build this lead even further in the second, but in contrast to early on, it did so via its effort on the defensive end. The team held New Orleans to just nine points in the entire quarter, forcing the visitors to shoot 4-20 from the field and 0-7 from downtown. As this was going on, the Islanders continued to spread the love on offense, getting at least three points from four different members of the rotation – including five from senior
Annukka Willstedt on a pair of made buckets -- to help extend the advantage up to 12 going into the half.
The first real response from the Privateers came out of the break, as they finally managed to get some momentum going on offense to get back to within five. The Islanders stemmed this tide beautifully though, immediately answering with triples on back-to-back possessions from senior
Jaeda Whitner that came off of steals from McGill and graduate
Paige Allen in quick succession. They continued to push from here as well, getting the lead up to a game-high 14 after a bucket in the paint from Allen with two minutes left in the third.
Despite the deficit, New Orleans continued to fight back, getting the score back down to eight at the end of a third after a pair of late baskets and then pushing it to as low as three with a flurry to kick off the final frame. Much like they did earlier, however, the Islanders kept things from spiraling even further, weathering the storm right after by getting to the line a couple of times and then converting on consecutive shots in the paint from Willstedt and Allen. The dagger in the game arrived with just over two minutes left on the clock, coming in the form of a three pointer by
Samora Watson that put A&M-Corpus Christi up by 10, a lead more than big enough to ride out the rest of the way.
When it was all said and done, the Islanders finished the day with five different players reaching double figures in scoring, which was the first time that the team accomplished that feat all season. The last instance of this happening came back on March 2 of last year against Southeastern Louisiana, with McGill, Allen, Willstedt and graduate
Mireia Aguado doing so alongside
Alecia Westbrook, who is currently working on the coaching staff of this year's team.
The tip of the spear on Thursday was senior
Tymberlin Criswell, who led the way with 15 points in what was her third straight game scoring 10 or more and her 12
th time doing so this season. Willstedt was next with 14 on an incredibly efficient 6-7 shooting, and following behind her with 13 were both Aguado and Allen, with the latter also grabbing 14 rebounds to match the single-game high for any player on the Islanders this year. Finally, Watson rounded out the group with 12 points of her own, doing so primarily by shooting 9-10 from the charity stripe.
The Islanders will now try to pick up another important win in the penultimate game of the 2024-25 regular season on Saturday, hosting Southland-leading Southeastern for Homecoming at the American Bank Center at 2 p.m.
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