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Islanders women roll Sul Ross in home opener

Jaeda Whitner had 18 points, all from three-point range in the blowout win over the Lobos.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team opened up their home slate of games in style on Tuesday evening, taking down Sul Ross State at the Dugan Wellness Center by a final score of 98-54. 

The win gave the Islanders their third victory in as many tries to open 2024-25, marking their first 3-0 start to a season since the 2009-10 campaign, when they opened up with consecutive wins over Air Force, Alabama and Texas Southern. It also gave A&M-Corpus Christi the first win in the series against Sul Ross State, with Tuesday's game being the first ever between the Islanders and the Lobos. 

The Islanders came out on fire in the opening quarter in front of the home fans, starting off the game on a 20-6 scoring run that put them in firm control of things right from the jump. This stretch was powered primarily by senior Jaeda Whitner, who poured in nine points in the frame via a trio of three pointers that all came over the span of just over a minute. 

This hot start carried over into the second, with A&M-Corpus Christi winning the quarter by 18 points to take a commanding 53-20 lead into the half. The three ball was again the catalyst in this period, starting with a barrage from senior Tymberlin Criswell, who in similar fashion to Whitner drained three treys in a row in quick succession. Not to be outdone, Whitner found her stroke once again for another trio of deep balls, making it six in the half for her and nine for the team as a whole. This matched the program record for most threes in a single half, which was set all the way back on January 21, 2002 against Gardner-Webb.

From here, the Islanders were able to ride this momentum the rest of the way, starting with a quick eight-point burst in the third to cap off a 19-0 run that began at the end of the second. This put the team up by 41, an advantage that would grow to 50 at its highest point near the end of the game. 

The Islanders finished the day scoring a whopping 98 points, which marked their first time scoring at least that many points in a game since December 30, 2014, when they hung 99 on the board in a win over Huston-Tilloston. The team also knocked down 11 of their 18 three-point field goals on the night, with Whitner knocking down six of eight and Criswell drilling four in five tries. 

In the scoring column, Whitner's 18 points led the way for A&M-Corpus Christi while also marking a new season-high for the Iowa native. Right behind her was Criswell with 16, and rounding out those in double figures was graduate and reigning Southland Conference Player of the Week Paige Allen with 11. Allen also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, and graduate Nabaweeyah McGill held it down on the defensive end with five total blocks, marking the first time any Islander reached that many since McGill did it herself with seven back on January 9, 2022 against Incarnate Word. 

The Islanders will now try to carry the momentum from this win into a big nonconference game, going on the road to take on No. 17 Baylor at Foster Pavilion in Waco on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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