COLLEGE STATION – Head coach Gary Blair earned his 800th career victory as the No. 11 Texas A&M Aggies ran away with a 72-43 victory against the Houston Cougars at Reed Arena. Junior guard Chennedy Carter led the way with 23 points.
The Aggies got out in front early, outscoring the Cougars 21-14 in the first quarter. They used a 10-0 run to start of the second quarter and positioned themselves for an 18-point lead going into the half. Carter, along with classmate Ciera Johnson, scored in double figures by the midway point in the game as Carter tallied 16 and Johnson had 12.
From then on the Aggies never let up. They extended their lead to 20 points in the third quarter, and it remained that way throughout the rest of the game as Texas A&M cruised to a 29-point win.
TEAM NOTES
- Texas A&M dominated Houston in the paint, outscoring the Cougars 46-20.
- The Aggies dished out a season-high 24 assists.
- The Aggies blocked a season-high seven shots.
- Texas A&M was a force on the offensive glass, grabbing 18 offensive rebounds and scoring 16 second-chance points.
- The Aggies never trailed in the game, and outscored Houston in every quarter.
- Texas A&M used a starting lineup of Chennedy Carter, Shambria Washington, Kayla Wells, N’dea Jones and Ciera Johnson for the tenth time this season.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Junior guard Chennedy Carter led the Aggies with 23 points, notching her third straight 20+ point game. She also grabbed a season-high seven rebounds, and matched her season-high in steals with four.
- Carter extended her double-figure scoring streak to 49 games, and has scored in double-figures in 74 of her 75 career games.
- Junior forward Ciera Johnson notched her third double-double of the year and her 15th of her career, as she finished with 16 points and 10 boards.
- Junior forward N’dea Jones tallied 12 points and 11 rebounds, giving her a double-double for the second straight game.
- Jones also stole the ball a career-high four times.
- Junior guard Kayla Wells made it five straight games in double figures, scoring 11 points.
- Senior guard Shambria Washington tied her career high in assists with nine.
- Junior forward Anna Dreimane matched her season high in blocks with two.
- Head coach Gary Blair became the fifth active and 11th all-time head coach to reach 800 career victories.
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair
Junior Forward Ciera Johnson
On what it has been like playing for Gary Blair … “He’s really an outstanding coach. I know sometimes we don’t appreciate him as much as we should, but he is really one of the best of the best and I’m glad I’ve been able to play for him.”
On playing more quality minutes tonight compared to other nights… “Our practices have been better. So practices are better that translates for us on the court. If we’re practicing bad, it’s going to carry over onto the court so we’ve locked in this past week to prepare for us and we really liked the outcome.”
Senior Guard Shambria Washington
On what it has been like playing for Gary Blair … “That’s a blessing. I don’t think we really realize how special it is right now. But, later on in life we will probably look back on it, especially me being a point guard for him. I just thank God for opportunity; I thank God for allowing me to play in a program like this. I think we’re blessed and I’m glad we could get it for him the way we did today.”
Something that stands out about Coach Blair’s coaching… “He’s good at identifying his player’s talents and runs the offense through that. You take away the first option, he has a second option, a third option, and then he’ll even redo the whole play, but it’s still the same play. I just think his basketball IQ is incredible. The things that he sees, what he expects me to see, he sees probably six plays ahead of what we’re getting ready to run. He’ll run a play to set up three other plays later in the game. I just think his basketball IQ is incredible, he’s a great teacher, and it’s a blessing to learn from him.”
UP NEXT
The Aggies will travel to Puerto Rico to take on Georgia Tech and Montana State on December 20th and 21st as part of the Puerto Rico Coqui Classic.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics