Story by Brandon Collins, Athletics Communications
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – After receiving its 2020-21 SEC Champion rings, the No. 23 Texas A&M women’s basketball team defeated Southern, 92-32, Thursday night inside Reed Arena.
Jordan Nixon led the Aggies (2-0) with 13 points while recording a 57.1% clip from the field. Destiny Pitts (12), Kayla Wells (11) and Maliyah Johnson (10) were not far behind also making contributions on the scoreboard. McKinzie Green facilitated the Aggie attack tallying four assists. Defensively, Aaliyah Patty and Jones led the way with two steals each.
Thirteen different players scored for the Aggies, shooting at 56.7% as a team. Texas A&M dominated the game, leading in rebounds 45-22 and outscoring the Lady Jaguars, 44-6, in the paint. The Maroon & White forced 23 turnovers from Southern (0-1), while scoring 26 points off Lady Jaguar miscues. A&M never trailed during the game, only allowing Southern to shoot 19.1% from the field.
The Aggies got off to an 8-0 lead early, and racked up an 18-2 lead by the end of the first period. The Aggies’ dominant defensive showing in the opening 10 minutes was the fewest points allowed by an A&M defense since holding Mississippi State to three points in the first quarter on Jan. 17 last season.
The Maroon & White kept its foot on the gas with the help of Qadashah Hoppie, who drained back-to-back shots early in the second. Additionally, Pitts drilled three 3-pointers in a three-minute span. A last-second layup from Jones finalized the Aggies’ lead of 43-9 at the end of the first half. It marked the first time Texas A&M allowed ten points or less in the first half since 2015 versus Prairie View A&M.
Texas A&M continued its blitz with big plays from Wells and Nixon giving the Aggies a 53-13 lead with 4:42 left in the third period. The Lady Jaguars started getting into an offensive rhythm during the third quarter, but the Aggies maintained and went into the final period of play with a score of 71-20. Johnson came alive for A&M, scoring eight points in the fourth quarter and securing the Aggie win 92-32. The 60-point win marked the sixth-largest margin of victory in program history.
UP NEXT
The Texas A&M women’s basketball team moves along with the season in a contest against DePaul on Monday at 7 p.m. inside Reed Arena.
POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M climbs to 2-0 through the first two games for the second-consecutive season, while Southern drops to 0-1.
- The Maroon & White improves to 4-0 in the all-time series with the Lady Jaguars.
- A&M extends its regular season non-conference win streak to 18-consecutive games dating back to Dec. 1, 2019.
TEAM NOTES
- Texas A&M allowed three points in the opening quarter of play, tying the lowest point total allowed in a period since holding Mississippi State to two points in the first quarter on Jan. 17, 2021.
- Southern did not record its first field goal until the 5:57 mark of the second quarter, and the Aggies held the Lady Jaguars to 13.3% shooting in the first 20 minutes.
- A&M’s defense held Southern to nine points in the first half, allowing an opponent 10-or-fewer points in the first half for the first time since defeating Prairie View A&M on Dec. 29, 2015.
- The Maroon & White defense held Southern to 32 points, tying the 11th-fewest points allowed in program history.
- The Aggies’ 60-point margin of victory ties the sixth-largest margin of victory in program history. A&M previously won by 60 in a 110-50 result against UTRGV on Nov. 30, 1987.
- A&M outshot Southern 56.7% to 19.1% in the game.
- The Aggies dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Lady Jaguars by a 45 to 22 margin.
- Texas A&M utilized a starting lineup of Kay Kay Green, Jordan Nixon, Kayla Wells, Jada Malone and Aaliyah Patty for the first time this season (1-0).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Jordan Nixon finished as the game-high scorer with 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field, making 2-of-3 from behind the 3-point arc. Nixon has scored in double figures both games this season.
- Destiny Pitts went 4-of-6 from 3-point land, tying her most made threes since joining the Texas A&M program last season. The Detroit native finished with 12 points in the game, her second double-digit effort of the year.
- Pitts also hauled in a game-high seven rebounds, surpassing her A&M personal best of six boards set last season.
Sahara Jones set new career highs in points (12), rebounds (five) and steals (two). - Maliyah Johnson notched a new career best in scoring with 10 points on 57.1% shooting from the field.
- Kayla Wells notched her second effort of 10-or-more points this season, finishing with 11.
- Kay Kay Green earned her first collegiate start.
- Jada Malone made her first start and collected personal bests in points (five) rebounds (six) and assists (two).
- Kenyal Perry submitted career highs in points (four), rebounds (five) and steals (one).
- Women’s Basketball Hall-of-Famer Gary Blair improves to 840-333 overall and 432-170 at Texas A&M. Blair is now 1-0 against Lady Jaguar coach Carlos Funchess.
- Blair is now only seven wins away from becoming the winningest coach in the history of Texas A&M basketball history, trailing men’s coaching legend Shelby Metcalf (438 wins).
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Gary Blair
Opening Statement…
“Obviously we played well. It started with our defensive intensity. We got into the passing lanes and were able to force 23 turnovers. In the second half we took all the traps off and just tried to play solid defense, which we will have to do next week against those two teams we have coming in (DePaul and Stephen F. Austin). I liked the efficiency that we played with on offense. I liked my team tonight. I loved how Sahara (Jones) and Maliyah (Johnson) played coming off the bench. Destiny (Pitts) can just flat-out shoot. It doesn’t matter if she’s the sixth woman or a starter, she rarely takes a bad shot. I’m now able to bring so many guards off the bench to play a half-court trap defense, and they’re always hoping that we call that defense because it settles them all down. If they learn how to play defense first, the offense will come. I’m a blessed man to have as many players that are willing to possess the ball and share the ball. Finally, I just want to thank all of the veterans as we celebrate Veteran’s Day today. It’s our job to have a platform to give back, and I’m so proud of the women and the men who have served in the armed services.”
On the 2020-21 SEC Championship ring ceremony…
“A lot of people had a role to play in that. Our support staff helped organize this event. Christina Richardson, our Director of Operations, was basically in charge of the whole thing, and she got everybody here to celebrate. I was glad to see so many of our player’s parents were able to come in, whether their child was getting a ring tonight or not. I think we had eight out of our 14 parents here tonight, and some of them were here for the last ball game. This is a team with families that were shut out because of COVID-19 and unable to travel. So, they’re here helping their young ladies through school and through tough times, because we have a very good team coming in here with DePaul. I loved the ceremony, but we have to get back to work later this week.”
Graduate guard Destiny Pitts
On the team’s performance Thursday…
“I just think that I was open in space and my teammates found me, it was all about confidence. Defensively, we executed the game plan. We knew coming in that they were going to be a fast team, and we knew that all of their guards were pretty fast. So, we did our best to create some pressure and force some turnovers. I think our defense did really well causing turnovers and trapping tonight.”
Sophomore guard Sahara Jones
On her effort on both sides of the ball…
“I really focused on just playing defense. Doing what I do best: getting steals or taking it to the basket and passing to my teammates, because someone is always going to be open. We’ve been in the gym working on taking shots in game-like situations, so I think that since we took those same shots in the game tonight, it gave us a high motor and lifted our chances.”