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Texas A&M Women's Basketball

WBB: Aggies continue winning ways, make short work of PVAMU

December 28, 2012
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An often debated question was emphatically answered Friday night.

Yes, bigger is definitely better.

At least it was at Reed Arena as Texas A&M capitalized on a substantial size advantage to post an overpowering 74-52 victory over Prairie View before a crowd of 4,915.

The Aggies (9-4) scored 38 points in the paint and 13 on second-chances to post their ninth victory in 10 games.

Kelsey Bone continued a recent hot streak with 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists to lead the way. Kristi Bellock added 14 points and eight boards, while Courtney Walker and Karla Gilbert added 11 each.

Latia Williams led the overmatched Panthers (3-7) with 14 points and JaQuandria Williams had 11.

While A&M had the 6-4 Bone and 6-1 Bellock in the starting lineup and the 6-4 Gilbert coming off the bench, Prairie View could only answer with the 6-0 Larissa Scott, who had eight points but just two rebounds.

Matt Sachs, TexAgs Kelsey Bone registered six of her game-high 18 points from the free throw line. {"Module":"photo","Alignment":"right","Size":"large","Caption":"Kelsey Bone registered six of her game-high 18 points from the free throw line.","MediaItemID":13880}
Bone, who had scored at least 15 points in each of the previous five games, routinely drew double- and triple-teams, but was often able to pass to teammates for easy baskets.

“We knew coming in and had an advantage on the inside,” said Bone, who averaged 27.6 points in three games during last week’s World Vision Classic in Las Vegas. “Coach Blair has been preaching how that’s our strong suit.

“The basket seemed wide open (in Las Vegas). We knew coming in the next couple of games teams were going to really focused on stopping me. I don’t think I’ll see one-on-one defense like I did up there.”

Prairie View certainly wasn’t going to let her see one-on-one defenses.

“Everybody needs a Kelsey Bone on their team,” Prairie View Coach Toyelle Brown said. “She’s a phenomenal player and she makes everyone around here better. She’s a beast. Coach Blair has all the offense run to her. They averaged 40 or 50 points in the paint, and they got 38 tonight.

“The first half killed us and it was just not Kelsey Bone. There’s Karla Gilbert, too. They have 6-4s all over the place and coach (Gary) Blair knows how to use them.”

The Aggies immediately established their dominance in the paint on both ends to take a 10-point lead after eight minutes. They extended the margin to as much as 21 points before taking a 39-19 advantage at halftime.

A&M out-rebounded the significantly smaller Panthers by a whopping 22-7 in the first half. The Aggies held Prairie View to just 36.4 percent shooting (8 of 22) and did not allow a second chance basket.

Meanwhile, A&M scored 18 points in the paint with eight coming on second chances.

Prairie View gamely fought to stay in contention by relying on leading scorer Latia Williams, who scored consecutive baskets to draw the Panthers within eight with 11:40 showing in the first half.

Matt Sachs, TexAgs Senior forward Kristi Bellock recorded 14 points and eight rebounds in another solid game. {"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"Senior forward Kristi Bellock recorded 14 points and eight rebounds in another solid game.","MediaItemID":23678}
However, A&M’s defense allowed just two points over the next 5 ½ minutes, while Karla Gilbert came off the bench to contribute six points – on layups and put-backs – in a 13-2 run that prematurely settled the issue.

The Aggies continued to dominate in the second half while building as much as a 34-point lead.

However, Blair was disappointed that the Aggies didn’t force more than 13 turnovers, although A&M did score 25 points off Prairie View miscues. He was also concerned that Prairie View shot 48.1 percent in the second half while executing its offense without much resistance.

“Our goal is 20 deflections each half,” Blair said. “To do that, you have to get up in the passing lanes. We looked like we were playing an umbrella defense. You can’t allow a team to pass the ball as much as they were doing. And we can’t rely on our inside game all the time.”

That’s because when the SEC schedule starts on Jan. 3 against Alabama the Aggies will face teams with the size to challenge them inside and force A&M to look elsewhere for scoring opportunities. The Aggies didn’t do that well enough for Blair’s liking.

But he acknowledged A&M’s vanilla game plan may have contributed to that.

“We were pretty plain Jane,” he said. “We didn’t want to show anything we’re going to run in conference, particularly in-bound plays and quick hitters. We were playing close to the vest today, but we were not trying to let them shoot 48 percent in the second half."
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WBB: Aggies continue winning ways, make short work of PVAMU

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