LAKE CHARLES, La. — A slow start couldn't hold back the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team, as a fiery rally through the final buzzer pushed them over No. 3 Southeastern 60-59 Wednesday in the semifinals to advance to the SLC Championship final.
After going down by as much as 14 points, the Islanders (22-8, 14-4 SLC) never relented and looked to their veterans as the senior class had been to the semifinals the previous two seasons. This time, they were able to get the job done and secure a spot in the finals.
The 14-point deficit matched the season's largest overcome in a win, as the Islanders strung together a dominate 18-9 third quarter that helped feature their first lead of the game. It held strong, as senior Paige Allen got the final go-ahead bucket with just four seconds remaining on the game clock before coming down with the final rebound from Southeastern's hail-mary.
The game-ending hero ended with 14 points, just behind senior Mireia Aguado who led all scorers with 16. She sank two crucial threes to help bolster momentum for the Islanders, including a go-ahead shot in the in the third. Graduate Alecia Westbrook, who has seen three semifinals in her career as an Islander, will finally appear in an SLC final after turning in a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double in the effort.
Joining them in double figures was junior Nabaweeyah McGill, who came off the bench to contribute 10.
Defensively, A&M-Corpus Christi remains undefeated this year when holding Southland teams to under 60 points. The Islanders are now 17-0 overall this year when holding the opposition to under 60 points.
A drought tainted the Islanders early as they couldn't get anything to fall in the first few minutes while the Lady Lions swamped a trio of threes to jump out 11-0. Allen finally got something going with the second chance, contested shot at 6:18 and Aguado got in at 5:25 to make it a 13-4 game. Southeastern wouldn't let up and got up as much as 21-8 before junior Jaeda Whitner sank the three from way out to cut the deficit down to 10.
The Islanders finally warmed up and responded big in the second, as senior Sasha Shishkina created some spark with the driving lay-in at 6:43 to initiate an unanswered scoring run. Whitner went deep again to make it a 25-18 game before Aguado matched her with her own long-range goal at 4:25 to get within four. The Lady Lions got one back off a free throw, but Aguado kept it going with the reverse layup at 3:47 to make it a one-possession game. A pair of free throws from the buzzer-beater foul that Allen drew kept the Islanders within striking distance down just 32-28 at the half.
Fury broke loose in the third, as Southeastern seemingly gained control back with the first five points. McGill then connected on the wide open three and thus commenced a 9-0 scoring run to tie the game at 37. The Lady Lions pulled back ahead with a pair of buckets before junior Tymberlin Criswell got fouled on the takeaway to tie things up at 41 from the charity strip. Aguado then lit up the Islanders will the go-ahead three-pointer as they took their first lead of the game at 2:16 in the third and they pushed it to a 46-41 lead heading to the fourth.
Westbrook kept the Islanders ahead by five with the early field goal in the fourth, but it would be the largest cushion of the quarter as the teams battled it out in the final 10 minutes. Southeastern went up 49-48 before the steal from senior Violeta Verano led to the conversion by Aguado to reverse it once again. The teams ended knotted again at 52-52 before a late surge from the Lady Lions had them up 57-52 with two minutes to go. Though, it was all Allen the rest of the way as she came out of the timeout to nail the three-pointer to cut it within two points. A free throw from the senior had the Islanders down by just one, and her in-bound steal gave the Islanders a chance at a final shot which she took herself for a 60-59 advantage with four seconds remaining.
The half-court toss from Southeastern hit the rim but didn't fall as Allen came down with the final rebound that solidified A&M-Corpus Christi's spot in the final.
The Islanders will now make their third-ever appearance in the championship and first since the 2018-2019 season. They will be going for their first tournament title to punch their first ticket to the NCAA tournament.
That fight will come against the No. 1 Lamar Cardinals, with the game set for Thursday at 4 p.m. CT on ESPNU. The two have met in the postseason three times previous, and once in the championship game in 2010. The Islanders will be going for their first win against the Cardinals in the tournament.