After career-defining weekend, Allen leads Texas A&M-CC women into NCAA Tournament

It was not something that had been building up.

It wasn't something that looked obvious during the week in practice.

As Paige Allen describes it, her taking over the game in a Southland Conference Tournament win to keep the Islanders season going was just "spur of the moment."

In the game's decisive moments, the 5-foot-8 senior guard scored eight straight points, had a key steal and dropped the go-ahead layup with 4.7 seconds remaining to lift Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to an improbable win against Southeastern Louisiana in the tournament semifinals after falling behind 11-0 to start the game.

"We knew that it was nerves," Allen said. "For some of us, it was the first time being on that stage and playing a tough team and tough opponent. We had to pull ourselves together and play like we knew how.

"It really happened in the spur of the moment in the game. We were down and it was coming down to the wire. I think something just clicked within us. 'Either we do it now, or it is done with' and we just weren't ready to go home."

The next day, with the Islanders' first NCAA Tournament appearance on the line, Allen produced a career-best 22 points, adding 12 rebounds as A&M-Corpus Christi nearly led wire-to-wire, snagging Southland Tournament MVP honors along the way.

"How special is it to play like that when it counts the most? When your team needs you the most," head coach Royce Chadwick said. "In the highest-stakes game you've played in and you're out there getting double-doubles. I am very happy for her. We don't win it if she doesn't do it. It was very rewarding — one of the best performances I've seen in a long, long time in back-to-back nights.

"She has ice water in her veins. She kept playing and playing and she brought the rest of them with her. She set the tone with her play and everyone followed."

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Joining her friend

Allen played AAU basketball with Alecia Westbrook for years in Missouri and Westbrook being in Corpus Christi played a role with the standout inking with the Islanders.

Allen joined a team that won the Southland Conference the year prior, but was facing a massive roster overhaul, except for Westbrook and Makinna Serrata.

"Coming here, we had a good team already," Allen said. "We had a lot of newbies when I first got here and we've grown together. This is greater than anything I could've imagined when I first stepped here though I knew it was possible with the coaching staff and with the players we recruited.

"(Westbrook) being here was a big reason I came. I knew somebody and it was someone I was close with, so I thought might as well go and play with her again. I am so happy to have made history with her here."

Allen has increased her scoring output every year she has been an Islander, averaging more than 10.2 points and 7 rebounds a game, both career highs.

She has always been a force on defense, among the top players in steals as a freshman, and being named to the All-Defensive Team the last two years.

"Paige and I have been playing together for almost a decade," Westbrook said. "I know her game and she knows my game. I've gotten to see her develop and she's seem me develop. It is amazing that I have somebody that is basically a lifelong teammate and sister that I get to play with at the highest level."

Allen has started 92 of the 108 games she has played at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, including all 31 this season.

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Ready to Dance

Now Allen and the Islanders head to the west coast to play at No. 1 seed Southern California and the national freshman of the year, JuJu Watkins, in one of the toughest environments in women's college basketball.

The senior is eager for the opportunity to play on a national stage, looking to continue her torrid postseason.

"It is going to be huge, I'm sure we'll be nervous playing on a big stage at a big school, but I don't have a doubt in my mind that we will go out and play as hard as we can," Allen said.

Chadwick, who is leading his eighth squad into the NCAA tournament, including one Sweet 16 appearance, said he is telling the team that it could be anyone's moment and be ready.

"You have to be ready for your moment," Chadwick said. "The lights are going to be bright. The intensity is going to be off the chart. It might be your moment. Be ready to seize your moment.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Allen leads Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women into NCAA Tournament