Credit to Brandon Collins | Associate Director, Athletics Communications
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – A trio of offseason transfers highlighted the season-opening 73-50 triumph by the Texas A&M women’s basketball team over the A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders Thursday night inside Reed Arena.
Lauren Ware, Aicha Coulibaly and Endyia Rogers marshaled Ol’ Sarge’s charges their first time donning the Maroon & White.
Ware opened her stint in Aggieland with her first career double-double on 15 points and 12 rebounds along with five blocks, two assists and two steals. The points and blocks were career highs for the Arizona transfer.
Coulibaly registered a game-high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, along with six rebounds, three steals and two assists. Coulibaly, who spent three years at Auburn, went over the 1,000-point mark for her NCAA career, ending the game with 1,012.
Rogers stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, six assists, five rebounds, four steals and a block.
The Aggies needed just over a quarter to knock the rust off before heading to the rout. With the Maroon & White trailing 9-8 shortly past the midpoint of the opening quarter, Rogers started a 12-0 run with a fast break layup and a 3-pointer and the Aggies led 20-13 at the first intermission.
The Islanders stayed in striking distance early in the second quarter, but the Aggies went on an 8-2 run to close out the half with a 37-23 advantage.
Texas A&M owned a 9-1 edge one the offensive glass and forced 12 turnovers to open the 14-point advantage headed to the locker room. Ware paced the Maroon & White with eight first-half rebounds while Rogers led the squad with nine points and three assists.
The Aggies opened their first 20-point lead of the game at the 5:05 mark of the third quarter with Coulibaly making a fastbreak layup for a 46-26 advantage. The margin widened to 23 before the Maroon & White settled on a 53-34 edge at the final intermission.
A&M-Corpus Christi cut the gap to 13 points twice during the fourth quarter, but Texas A&M’s 10-0 run midway through the period snuffed out the Islanders’ hopes.
The Aggies triumph in the season opener for the 11th-consecutive time with the last three wins coming against A&M-Corpus Christi. Joni Taylor improved to 9-0 in season openers, including her second lid-lifting win with Texas A&M.
Up Next
The Aggies will take on North Texas on Sunday inside Reed Arena at 2 p.m.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Joni Taylor
On the Aggie offense…
“I thought at times it was really good and I thought at times it looked sloppy. We knew we had an advantage down low, so we made it a point of emphasis to get the ball inside. We’ve got multiple options when it comes to people touching the ball in the paint and being able to post up or drive, and we have bigger guards that we can post up this year.”
On the newcomers’ performances…
“I mean, they’re experienced players, they were starters at the programs they came from. Aicha Coulibaly has been in this league. Lauren Ware has played in the Final Four and for USA Basketball. Endiya Rogers has been a starter and an all-conference player in the PAC-12 at Oregon and USC. So, what we saw out there is what we’ve seen since they’ve stepped on campus, they’ve been that version of themselves. It provides consistency for our team because they know how to practice and know how to show up every single day.”
Senior Guard Endiya Rogers
On the environment in Reed Arena…
“To be honest, there were more fans than I expected. The fans were great and I’m excited that we could get the win for the 12th Man.”
Redshirt Junior Forward Lauren Ware
On exploiting the Islanders’ defense…
“When they went into their zone, I think we executed pretty well. Just taking our time and getting good open shots. We were able to kick out for some threes that didn’t fall, but we ran the offense well.
POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES
- A&M advances to 8-0 all-time versus the Islanders and has won 11-consecutive season openers.
- Head Coach Joni Taylor is now 9-0 in her career in season openers.
- Taylor’s career record advances to 150-95 all-time and 10-20 in her two seasons at A&M.
TEAM NOTES
- Texas A&M was up 37-23 at half, the largest lead at halftime since a 35-16 lead against Army on Nov. 13, 2022.
- The Maroon & White held the Islanders to 17-48 (35%) shooting and 3-14 (21.4%) from deep.
- The Aggies dominated the Islanders inside, outscoring them 44-26 in the paint.
- A&M outrebounded the Islanders 42-33 and held a 15-5 offensive rebound advantage.
- The Aggies forced 19 turnovers on defense, 13 of which being steals.
- Texas A&M opened the season with a starting lineup of Endyia Rogers, Aicha Coulibaly, Sahara Jones, Janiah Barker and Lauren Ware (1-0).
- Endyia Rogers, Aicha Coulibaly, Lauren Ware, Solè Williams, Vanessa Saidu and Kylie Marshall all made their debuts for the Aggies.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Aicha Coulibaly
- Reached 1,000 career points early in the second quarter and ended the game with 1,012 career points.
- Led the Aggies with 17 points, shooting 7-10 (70%).
Lauren Ware
- Put up a career high in blocks with five, four of those coming in the first half.
- Recorded the first double-double of her career with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
- Matched her career high in points with 15.
Endyia Rogers
- Matched her career high in steals with four, leading the Aggies in the category.
- Recorded double digit points for the 86th time in her career.
- Dished out a team-high six assists with zero turnovers.
Tineya Hylton
- Her seven points off the bench led the Aggie second unit. She also recorded two assists and a steal.