ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands (AP) – Jordan Nixon and Destiny Pitts scored 12 points, Kayla Wells added 10 points and No. 23 Texas A&M used a late run to pull away for a 57-46 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday night at the Paradise Jam.
Wells and Pitts made back-to-back 3-pointers and Nixon added a jumper and a triple before Pitts hit two free throws to cap a 13-1 run over the final four minutes.
Maliyah Johnson finished with nine points and eight rebounds for Texas A&M (5-0).
The Aggies have won a program record 21-consecutive non-conference games, dating back to a loss against Florida State on December 1, 2019.
Dayshanette Harris led Pitt (4-1) with 16 points and Liatu King scored 10 points and grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds.
Texas A&M, which went into the game shooting 48.1% from 3-point range – No. 1 nationally – and averaging 89.0 points per game, shot just 29% (21-of-72) from the field, including 6-of-19 (31.6%) from behind the arc. The Aggies, however, made 4-of-6 overall and 3-of-4 from 3-point range down the stretch.
Pitt made just one field goal and went 3-of-6 from the free-throw line over the final six minutes.
POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M improves to 5-0 to start the season for the third-consecutive year, while Pitt falls to 4-1.
- The Maroon & White are on a 21-game win streak against regular season non-conference opponents, a record dating back to Dec. 1, 2019, the longest non-conference winning streak in program history.
- The Aggies are now 2-0 against the Panthers.
TEAM NOTES
- A&M allowed only 46 points to the Panthers, the second-lowest opponent score of the season for the Aggie defense.
- The Maroon & White defense forced Pitt to shoot 29.8% on shot attempts, marking the second time the defense has forced a team to shoot under 30.0% from the field.
- The Aggies had 21 offensive rebounds compared to Pitt’s 14.
- A&M held the Panthers to zero made threes, marking the second time this season the team has allowed no made triples.
- The Aggies have now made more threes than their opponent every game this season.
- The Maroon & White forced 24 turnovers, while only surrendering 12 on its offensive possessions.
- The Aggies made six shots from beyond the arc at a 31.6% clip.
- The Maroon & White is now 4-3 all-time at the Paradise Jam.
- Texas A&M utilized a starting lineup of Jordan Nixon, Qadashah Hoppie, Kayla Wells, Destiny Pitts and Sydnee Roby for the first time this season (1-0).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Kayla Wells has now played in 130 games for the Aggies, which is 14 games from breaking Karla Gilbert’s program record of 143. Wells also made her 97th-consecutive start for the Maroon & White.
- Maliyah Johnson registered a new career high in rebounds, hauling in eight to lead the team in her 17 minutes of action. Johnson scored seven-straight points for the Aggies from :40 remaining in the third quarter to 6:17 left in the fourth.
- Destiny Pitts and Jordan Nixon both led the team in scoring, pouring in 12 points each for the Aggie attack.
- Women’s Basketball Hall-of-Fame head coach Gary Blair climbs to 843-333 overall with a 435-170 record since arriving in Aggieland in 2003-04.
- Blair continues his chase of men’s basketball coaching legend Shelby Metcalf for the most basketball victories at Texas A&M, currently four wins away from surpassing the record of 438.
Postgame Quote
Head coach Gary Blair
On the team’s performance…
“When the shots aren’t going, you have to be able to do other things to stay in the game. Those things are rebounding, sharing the basketball and playing defense. It took us a while to realize what a good shot was. When you’re on the road and it is the first game of a tournament, it can lead to some poor shooting and that is exactly what happened tonight. The only two kids that shot well came off the bench. Maliyah Johnson and Jada Malone were huge for us coming into the ballgame. We have to find ways to be better at scoring on the inside when it isn’t falling from the outside. The Defense was solid tonight and we didn’t allow a three for the second time this year. Give Pitt credit, they fought hard despite missing their leading scorer.”
Up Next
The Aggies take on South Dakota (2-3) at 7 p.m. CT on Friday in the second round of the Paradise Jam tournament.