COLLEGE STATION- Kayla Wells had 13 of her career-high 26 points in the third quarter, leading No. 23 Texas A&M to a 71-51 win over Southern California in a women’s basketball game at Reed Arena Wednesday.
The win marked the fifth straight victory for Texas A&M (9-2), and knocked the Trojans (9-1), who check in at 25th in this week’s USA Today Coaches Poll, from the ranks of the unbeaten for the second straight season. The Aggies’ five-game win streak is the program’s longest since November 2016.
Facing a 32-28 halftime deficit, Texas A&M took control of the game by outscoring the Trojans 24-9 in the third quarter. The Aggies held USC to just 21.4% shooting in the frame.
Chennedy Carter had 23 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, the first of her three career double-doubles that consisted of points and rebounds. N’dea Jones had double-digit rebounds for the third straight game, grabbing 17 boards.
Shambria Washington led Texas A&M with six assists.
The Aggies return to action on Friday, December 21 to host Prairie View at 6:30 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES
Texas A&M
- The Aggies improve to 9-2 on the season, while USC suffers its first loss of the season, falling to 9-1.
- Texas A&M has won five straight games, its longest win streak since November 2016
- The Aggies are 105-9 against non-conference teams at home since the 2004-05 season.
- Texas A&M is 65-5 all-time when leading after three quarters.
- The Aggies gave USC its first loss for the second straight season. Last year, A&M beat USC, who was 8-0 at the time, 75-74 in Los Angeles.
- Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 364-153 in 16 seasons in Aggieland. He is 774-316 in his Hall of Fame career, which ranks seventh among active coaches in career wins.
- Had a career-high for the second straight game, scoring 26 points
- Scored 20+ points for the second straight game
- Scored in double figures for the seventh time this season
- Had her third career double-double, but the first of which that was points/rebounds (She had two last season that were points/assists)
- This marks Texas A&M’s first 20+ point/10+ rebound game this season
- Had a career-high 11 rebounds, her first career double-digit rebound game
- Scored 20+ points for the third straight game and the seventh time this season. She has 31 career 20+ point games, which passes Danielle Adams (2009-11, 30) for second on A&M’s list.
- Scored 10+ points for the 20th straight game, dating back to last season. She has scored 10+ points in 45 of 46 career games.
- Had 10+ rebounds for the third straight game and the seventh time this season
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair
Opening Statement…
“I think what you saw in the first half was a little bit of post-Maui. We were lucky in the first quarter, whatever the score was, because we were two for twelve to start, they were good shots. But, I just feel we didn’t have the legs until the second half. We held a Power 5 team to nineteen points in the second half. I am proud of this team that handles adversity as good as any team I have ever had. Chennedy Carter is playing one-legged, it’s her foot. Her shot wasn’t going in, but she got to the line thirteen times and got eleven rebounds, and that is a career high. In the first half when Chennedy Carter hit Shambria Washington, they got six turnovers, and only one in the second half. They handled the ball really well, and we ran our stuff better when they were in front of me. Chennedy Carter was hurting on both ends sometimes, not making good decisions, but at the same time, she rebounded and played through it, and that is what All-Americans are supposed to do. She got all her free throws at the end, she did the little things at the end, and in the second half when I could see she wasn’t going, we started calling Kayla Wells plays. I think tonight’s game started with what she did against Oregon State. That’s what we have to do, have the next person step up. She started being referred to as the third option on the outside, and she is not a third option anymore. I am proud of this basketball team because we can accept when somebody is cold or we are not getting it inside enough. N’dea Jones was great, but her shot wasn’t dropping. What can you do to stay in the ball game? You can play defense and give me seventeen rebounds. What we’ve done in the last five ball games since the Lamar game has been remarkable. Our legs were tired, I was dead tired, and we had to play a 5 p.m. game. That is what we do, we play through it. I don’t think they (USC) have played anybody as tough or physical as we have, and we haven’t played anybody as quick as they are. They will do well in the Pac-12.”
On what he changed in the second half…“We gave up the baseline on the zone, and we got N’dea Jones in foul trouble. The two kids who came up, kept giving up the baseline drive and Ciera Johnson would have to rotate over, where they could have really burned us a couple times. We have to do a better job of not giving the baseline up against a zone. We will do better.”
Texas A&M sophomore guard Chennedy Carter
On the 11 rebounds
“I just really was trying to do anything I could for my team, and after the bad tweak against Oregon State, I was just trying to be there for the team. N’dea was like ‘Dang, Chennedy, you’re stealing my rebounds,’ and I said ‘I’m just trying to rebound this ball and do anything I can to help us win.'”
On her 46 point performance last year and her expectations this year
“I mean, we all can play, this team is different than last year’s team, so I don’t have to do it, I don’t have to take that many shots, I’ve got Kayla Wells on the wing, N’dea Jones who can score, Ciera Johnson, so I have a bunch of options. We all put everything together tonight and that’s not just about me. I feel like teams mislead us, you know, we play good together, not just one person. So the points, in my opinion, didn’t really matter, I didn’t come out here thinking ‘I want to get another 46,’ I came out here thinking that I wanted to get two big wins against ranked teams and that’s what we did.”
Texas A&M sophomore guard Kayla Wells
On the confidence gained by shots made
“It opens a lot because a lot of teams play me as I can’t shoot the three just because last year I didn’t shoot the three a lot so whenever I start hitting shots I look for my drive because I know they’re going to be coming out hard so it opens up a lot for me in the drive.”
On her scoring streak and scoring most of the teams points
“I really wasn’t aware, I was just playing, playing hard. I was just taking shots when i was open and just being aggressive.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics