Islanders defense clamps down to earn No. 2 seed in Southland Conference Tournament

One of the hottest teams in the Southland Conference stood in the way of the Islanders' women's basketball team and a double bye in next week's conference tournament.

And Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's opponent staged a furious comeback and nearly shocked the Islanders in their first meeting early in the conference slate.

But Royce Chadwick had a few wrinkles in store for UIW, winners of seven straight, and the Islanders held the Cardinals to 24% shooting in a 65-43 win that secured the No. 2 seed at the Southland Conference tournament.

The Islanders will have the luxury of an extra days rest, not playing until the semifinals on Wednesday at the Legacy Center in Lake Charles.

While UIW opened the game struggling with its shot, the Islanders women were equally cold from the outset, but 3-pointers from Annukka Willstetdt and Nabaweeyah McGill unlocked the Islanders offense, which ended the half on a 25-9 run.

McGill had her third consecutive double-figure scoring game (14 points) leading three in double digits, while Alecia Westbrook tied her career high with seven assists.

A&M-Corpus Christi knew what was on the line, having enjoyed a double bye in each of the last two seasons and played like it.

"I think we played really good defense tonight and did a good job of communicating and staying between them and the basket," head coach Royce Chadwick said. "Those were things we worked on, trying to take away their tendencies. Offensively, we were sluggish at points and didn't stay in our offense the way we wanted to, but to win by double digits this time of year ... the margin between teams (is small)."

Chadwick said beyond the rest, the bye affords the team the opportunity to see what new strategies team's will bring to the table in Lake Charles.

"We put in a couple of wrinkles we didn't have when we played them in January," Chadwick said. "I thought we executed those wrinkles well. We took away what they wanted to do. They want to come down and be methodical and we did some different things to make them play faster.

"When we sped them up, it worked to our advantage."

For their regular season success, the Islanders are looking for their first win in the conference tournament since 2019. But they'll face a team that has played at least one game, if not two before clashing with A&M-Corpus Christi.

Westbrook, who holds numerous school records and will leave as one of the best players in program history, played her final game at the American Bank Center and said she has always left everything on the floor for the fans in Corpus Christi.

"They took me in freshman year," said Westbrook after helping the Islanders improve to 38-7 at home over the last three seasons. "I leave everything on the floor for them. I love the atmosphere, the crowd and we did what we needed to do get the big win at home."

The Islanders will now rest and watch the opening rounds of the tournament, until their semifinal matchup is set, scheduled for Wednesday at a time to be determined in Lake Charles.

"We'll get a chance to watch teams play and figure out their new wrinkles," Chadwick said. "It takes everything you have to win a game. We have to be prepared to take it to them from the jump."

More: Full steam ahead: Islanders clinch No. 2 seed, carry momentum into Southland tourney

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Behind defense, Islanders women claim No. 2 seed for Southland tourney