CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team got the 2026-27 season started in great fashion on Wednesday evening, putting together a very strong all-around performance on its way to downing Our Lady of the Lake by a final score of 76-36.
With the win, the Islanders (1-0) made it four straight victories in season openers dating back to the 2023-24 season and seven over the last 10 years. Their 40-point margin of victory was also the team's second largest in any season-opening win, sitting behind only last year's record-breaking 100-30 win over College of Biblical Studies in head coach
Toyelle Wilson's first game at the helm of the program.
A&M-Corpus Christi took care of business thanks in large part to a balanced attack on offense, with all 12 players to hit the floor scoring at least once and the team as a whole recording 21 assists on 30 made baskets, more than they had in all but one game last year. This included three different players that reached double figures, with
Rayna Williams and
Sille-Liis Mölder leading the way with 11 each and
Naiya Carney coming in right behind with a career-high of 10 in her first game in 610 days after missing the entire 2025-26 season due to injury.
The Islanders also gave the Saints a lot of trouble on the defensive end, holding their opponents to just 11-43 shooting from the field and pressuring them into 32 turnovers, their most forced in a single game since they recorded the same amount against McNeese back on February 18, 2023. The blue and green managed to spark their offense with these as well, scoring 38 points off of turnovers and getting out for 20 points on the fast break.
This effort on defense was no more apparent than in the opening quarter, when the Islanders outscored OLLU 22-5 while allowing just two made baskets on nine shot attempts. The hosts got out to a quick 5-0 lead on a layup from Williams and a triple from Mölder, and after the Saints finally got on the board, they responded by increasing the advantage in a big way, ripping off the final 11 points to end the period. This run started with a three ball from newcomer
Andrea Chiquemba and a fastbreak layup from Singleton, and it continued with a bucket from
Asha Walker, a layup from Carney and finally another jumper from Walker off a pindown screen right before the buzzer sounded.
A&M-Corpus Christi did not let off the gas after this either, keeping the Saints off the board for the first 2:10 of the second to cap off the scoring drought on the other side at more than six minutes of in-game action. This period was the lowest scoring one for the Islanders on the day, but they still managed to emerge on top 13-7 thanks to 12 of those points coming in the paint, led by
Caitlin Lord with four and Williams with three.
Coming out of the break with a 23-point lead, the Islanders picked up right where they left off, starting with six quick points from Carney over the first couple minutes of the third quarter. The team then started sharing the love after this, with
Carmen Sánchez-Ramos getting on the board with her first bucket of her freshman season and
Valeria Martínez scoring her first points on the Island after missing all of her debut campaign with a knee injury.
Singleton would cap off this period with a late basket to increase A&M-Corpus Christi's advantage up to 35, a figure that eventually grew to its highest point of 41 early in the fourth quarter after a Walker layup. After this, the team was able to ride things out to the finish line with no trouble, getting six points from
Andjela Marojevic down the stretch and four assists from
Laura Frances Willis to take the night to its eventual finish. Willis ended up being one of the standout performers for the Islanders on the day in her first collegiate game, with the freshman leading the group with eight assists and six rebounds while also pitching in eight points on 3-6 shooting.
"I just think our girls really emphasized starting really well and being disruptive and aggressive on both sides of the floor, and I thought we did that," Wilson said. "I saw a lot of good stuff. We didn't turn the ball over much, we shared the ball, got to play in transition a little bit. There were a couple lapses I wasn't happy with, but we'll look at the film and continue to better. For the first game, I'm just happy that the girls had a good experience, and now we're onto the next."
The Islanders will now embark on a challenging three-game swing on the road, starting off with a matchup against Baylor on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Wilson's return to Waco after serving as an assistant for the Bears from 2013-2019 and winning a National Championship under Hall of Fame coach Kim Mulkey in her final season.
#ShakasUp
