HOUSTON – The HBU women's basketball team captured the 78-70 victory and the bid to the Southland Conference Women's basketball tournament on Saturday afternoon in the rematch to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders in Sharp Gym. Leading by as much as 21 in the second half, the Islanders inched their way back in, only down by five with a minute remaining but with a 5-0 run from the Huskies, the final Islander basket wasn't enough, and the Huskies win was sealed.  

Tied at 5-5 after a little over the first two minutes of the game, the Huskies (10-10,6-7 SLC) surged through the first period after an 11-point performance from Timia Jefferson to put the Huskies ahead 25-13. With a lead from Julija Vujakovic in the second, the Huskies kept the momentum scoring 12 points off nine Islander turnovers and 11 second chance points for the 41-24 lead to send the teams into the locker rooms. 

With a Jefferson steal for an Abbey Sutherland layup and a N'Denasija Collins layup from an Islander turnover just a little over a minute in the second half, HBU held their biggest lead of the game up 21. The Islanders (6-13,4-7 SLC) trailed by only 11 through the start of the fourth and with just under five minutes remaining, Corpus Christi caught momentum to bring the HBU lead down to just six. But with a few Husky free throws and a Jefferson layup, the final second layup wasn't enough from the Islanders and the Huskies closed the final game in Sharp Gym with a victory to go into preparation for the post season.   

Junior Julija Vujakovic led with her second highest scoring game of the season with 20 points and six rebounds going 4-for-7 at the three-point line and 7-for-12 from the field. Timia Jefferson followed close behind with 19 points to continue her 19-game streak for double digit scoring. Kennedy Wilson posts the first double-double of her career with 13 points and a career high 10 assists while going 7-for-8 at the line. N'Denasija Collins posted 18 points with seven rebounds while Abbey Sutherland posted eight boards in her first full game after having to sit out since the Sam Houston at the beginning of February. 

The Islanders had three players in double figures led by Makinna Serrata with 17 points. Giana Wright led with seven of the Islanders 35 rebounds. The team shot 41 percent from the field going 17-for-21 at the line with 20 points from the bench.  

The Huskies shot 49.1 percent from the field going 16-for-19 at the line with 19 points from Islanders 16 turnovers and 17 second chance points, equaling the Islanders with 35 boards. 

The Huskies have placed eighth in the conference and will face off with the McNeese Cowgirls for the third time this season on Wednesday, March 10 at 11 a.m. at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas for the first round of the 2021 Women's Basketball Southland Conference Tournament.