Credit to Brandon Collins | Associate Director, Athletics Communications – 12thman.com
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M women’s basketball team extended its win streak to eight games with Monday’s 95-45 victory over the Mississippi Valley State Devilettes inside Reed Arena.
The Aggies were once again dominant on the inside with eye-popping edges in rebounding (53-24) and points in the paint (50-14).
Janiah Barker recorded her fifth double-double of the season which featuring her second career 20-point effort. She logged 20 points on 6-of-11 (54.5%) shooting from the field and a career-high eight made free throws. She also hauled in 11 rebounds in just 24 minutes of action.
Aicha Coulibaly equaled a season best with 17 points, hitting 7-of-11 (63.6%) from the field. She also matched a career high with six steals to go with two rebounds and three assists.
Lauren Ware registered her seventh double-double of the season, but she impressed the most in the blocked shot column. Her six swats were a career high and ranked seventh on the Aggies’ single-game chart. She added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Endyia Rogers logged a season high nine assists and pulled down six rebounds. Sahara Jones added 10 points and eight rebounds. Other matched career marks included Tineya Hylton with six assists and Maliyah Johnson with eight rebounds.
The Aggies improved to 10-1 on the season, already an improvement on their win total from last season (9-20). The eight-game victory run matches their best stretch since starting the 2021-22 season with eight consecutive wins.
Texas A&M used a 16-0 run to take a 19-3 lead into the first media timeout at the 3:49 mark of the first quarter. The Maroon & White was up 23-10 after the first intermission, shooting 58.8% (10-of-17) from the field and owning a 16-4 edge in the points in the paint.
Mississippi Valley State (1-10) started the second quarter on an 8-0 surge to cut the deficit to five, but the Aggies outscored the Devilettes 20-4 the last 7:54 of the period. Barker scored 11 points in the quarter and went into the locker room with 16 points as Texas A&M was up 43-22 at halftime.
The Aggies stretched the lead to 32 points at the 1:41 mark of the third quarter, but MVSU made a basket at the buzzer to clip the margin to 59-31 heading into the final break.
The Maroon & White used a titanic fourth quarter to coast to the victory. Texas A&M registered 30 points in a quarter for the first time since December 2021, outscoring the Devilettes 36-14 in the final frame to secure the 50-point victory.
Up Next
The Aggies return to Reed Arena for Fan Appreciation Day where admission is free to the public on Wednesday at 1 p.m. where they will take on Prairie View A&M. Fans are encouraged to wear their tackiest Christmas sweater to the game.
POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
This is the first time Texas A&M has matched up against Mississippi Valley State and the Aggies are now 1-0 in the series.
Joni Taylor’s career record advances to 159-96 all-time and to 19-21 in her two seasons with the Aggies.
TEAM NOTES
The Maroon & White extended its winning streak to eight games, the longest streak since a nine-game run at the start of the 2021-22 season. The Aggies have outscored their opponents by an average of 32.4 points during the streak.
The Aggies came in with the No. 5 scoring defense in the nation (49.1) and continued their strong defense by only allowing MVSU to score 45 points. A&M is forcing teams to score just 48.7 points per game after its performance versus the Devilettes.
The Aggies have won 10 games, one more than their win total from last season (9) just 11 games into the 2023-24 campaign.
The Aggies held the Devilettes to 27.3% (15-55) shooting from the field. This marks the fifth time this season the Aggies have held an opponent to less than 30% shooting.
The Maroon & White outscored MVSU in the paint by 36 points (50-14), the largest margin of the year.
Texas A&M outrebounded MVSU by 28 (53-25), the second-highest rebounding difference of the season behind a 29 rebound (52-23) advantage versus HCU on Nov. 20, 2023. This is the fourth time this season the Aggies have outrebounded a team by 20-plus boards.
The Aggies only allowed nine points in the third quarter, making nine times this season the Maroon & White have held an opponent to less than 10 points in a quarter.
The Maroon & White poured in 36 points in the fourth quarter, the first 30-point quarter since a 32-point fourth period against TCU on Dec. 21, 2021.
Texas A&M began with a starting lineup of Endyia Rogers, Aicha Coulibaly, Sahara Jones, Janiah Barker and Lauren Ware. (10-1)
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Janiah Barker
Scored a season-high 20 points on 6-11 shooting (54.5%) from the field.
Recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 20 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
Made a career-high eight free throws on 8-10 (80%) shooting from the line.
Lauren Ware
Put up her seventh double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Recorded a career-high six blocks.
Aicha Coulibaly
Poured in 17 points on 7-11 shooting from the field.
Tied her career-high in steals with six.
Tineya Hilton
Tied her career-high in assists with six off the bench.
Sahara Jones
Scored 10 points and hauled in a season-high eight rebounds.
Endyia Rogers
Recorded a season-high nine assists, her sixth game this season with five-or-more dimes.
MJ Johnson
Tied her career-high in rebounds with eight.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Joni Taylor
On the message at halftime…
“I just thought our pace wasn’t very good. I thought that their zone slowed us down even though we had talked about making sure that didn’t happen. And I didn’t think that we were aggressive. We had eight offensive rebounds and only eight assists. We could do more. So, we talked about taking care of the basketball, rebounding the heck out of the ball, sharing the ball and picking up our pace. I thought we translated that in the third and fourth quarters.”
On where the team is at with conference play coming up…
“I like that we have a ton of options. I thought that we went to our bench tonight and today was great for our entire team. Solè came off the bench in the third quarter, Sydney shot it well and Kylie came in and got some good minutes. Our starters are setting the tone and they’re going longer and longer in terms of their minutes and getting their wind under them. So, just our ability to play different matchups and have different options, it looks a lot different than it has in the past.”
Senior Guard Aicha Coulibaly
On matching her season high in points…
“I just feel like the more we play, I’ve become more confident and comfortable playing at the three. Being here at A&M has been a lot easier because I’m used to always being in the post, but now playing on the perimeter, I’m taking my time and trying to make shots.”
Sophomore Forward Janiah Barker
On how the December schedule has prepared them for conference…
“When you play good teams, your sets aren’t going to work. You have to do other things. This December schedule has helped us figure out what the best looks are for us, especially in hard games.”