COLLEGE STATION- Anriel Howard had a career-high 23 points to go along with 13 rebounds, as No. 18 Texas A&M defeated Rice 82-76 in a women’s basketball game at Reed Arena Wednesday.
The Aggies (6-1), playing in their second game in as many days, led 36-33 at halftime, but the Owls (5-2) stuck around, due to sinking a Reed Arena record 15 3-pointers. With Rice trailing by a point with 3:36 to play, Texas A&M would score on three straight possessions to put the game away.
In addition to Howard’s 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting, Danni Williams added 19 points and Chennedy Carter had 17 points and a team-high seven assists.
Rice was led by Erica Ogwumike, who scored 26 points.
The Aggies return to action on Sunday, December 3 at 7 p.m. to host West Virginia in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. The game is broadcast on ESPNU.
QUICKIE NOTES
Team
- Texas A&M improves to 6-1 on the season, while the Owls fall to 5-2
- The Aggies are 5-1 at home this season, and are 59-11 at Reed Arena since the start of the 2013-14 season
- Texas A&M is 150-5 against unranked teams at home since February 2005
- The Aggies are 43-2 all-time when leading or tied after three quarters
- Texas A&M has scored 80+ points six times in eight games this season
- Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is now 337-141 in 15 seasons at Texas A&M. He is 745-305 in his Hall of Fame career, which ranks eighth in career wins among active Division I coaches.
- Scored in double figures for the seventh straight game. She is the only Texas A&M freshman to start a career with seven straight double-figure scoring games.
- Scored a career-high 23 points
- Had her fifth double-double of the season and the 18th of her career, which ties Danielle Adams for third-most in a career at Texas A&M
- Scored in double figures for the sixth time in seven games this season. She has 26 career double-figure scoring games
- Had 10+ rebounds for the sixth time this season and the 34th time in her career
- Has scored 10+ points or grabbed 10+ rebounds each game this season
- Scored in double figures for the 12th straight game, dating back to last season. She has 38 career double-digit scoring lines
- Has made at least two 3-pointers in nine straight games
Postgame Quotes
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
Opening Statement…
“When we are on the road, we lose this game. Thank heavens our fans did not give up on us. Sometimes we were giving up on ourselves. Our defense was horrible the whole night. We made a couple of plays or they turned it over in crucial time and it really hurt them in the last quarter. Whether we were in man or we were in zone, we didn’t understand switching; we didn’t understand how to guard a 3-point shooter. Three games in four days, did that have something to do with it? It wasn’t our legs; it was our decision making and when you have poor decision making on offense and defense. All that was, was a bump 2-3 zone. Khaalia Hillsman touched the ball one time in the second half. 3-for-5 and she didn’t even shoot. She has got to learn to move and get herself open and we have to be able to feed the ball. But there is no excuse for no good shot attempts in the first half.”
On 4th quarter…
“Chennedy [Carter] made some plays; she made some tough shots and got fouls but give her credit, it wasn’t her best night. She knows it and that is why she was on the bench in the second quarter. But the kid responded in the second half and made some pretty good things on the offensive end. She was just like everyone else on the defensive end. She gave up as many as she scored. This was not a good effort and give Rice a lot of credit. They run their offense as well as anyone that we have faced this year. That was just a good job and Tina does a great job with them. We have to go to the drawing board. We will take tomorrow off. We have got two days of prep to get ready for West Virginia who has had a week to get ready for us. If we are going to bring top-10 teams in here we have got to be able to play up to the standards of top 10 and we didn’t do it when we had Oregon in here so we get one more chance. That is on us.”
Texas A&M Junior Forward Anriel Howard
On her improved scoring tonight…
“Yesterday wasn’t my shooting night. I just came in with more focus. I knew that this team was really good and that I had to help my team out to get the win.”
On winning a close one…
“It helps us get a little spark for the next game. Yes this game is finished and we are on to the next, but this helps us try to find ourselves offensively and defensively. We were pretty good for the most part there tonight.”
Texas A&M Junior Guard Danni Williams
On the early struggles…
“I don’t think we were talking and in the first half we weren’t moving it well. Even in the third quarter when they got all those threes we weren’t communicating very well. That’s on us we knew that they were good three-point shooters and we have to get better at that.”
On what needs to change…
“I think for us it’s mental and trying to play with energy and effort from the start through the finish. At times we showed it and the crowd was exciting and we put it on for the fans when we were getting after it. But we don’t have that same type of energy throughout the game. If we want to compete with these top-10 programs that’s something we need to focus on.”
Rice Head Coach Tina Langley
Opening Statement…
“First of all, I love Coach Blair. He is a tremendous coach and has a great staff with a great program. We have a lot of respect for them and am also really proud of our team. We grew a lot from the last game. Proud of our fight and proud of the way we executed for most of the night.”
On the long range success…
“We have such an unselfish team. We always look at how many baskets we can assist on each night. Tonight we did a good job of sharing the basketball and making those decisions a little bit earlier so we can make the right reads. They are such a good long, athletic team we had to focus on making that read a little bit earlier tonight.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics