No. 16 A&M begins SEC play with 73-62 win over Georgia

Any win is a good win in conference play.

After a rocky start that saw Georgia take an early nine-point lead midway through the first quarter, the 16th-ranked Texas A&M women’s basketball team used strong second and third quarters to defeat the visiting Lady Bulldogs 73-62 at Reed Arena on Sunday.

Courtney Walker scored a game-high 20 points and Chelsea Jennings added 12 more and seven rebounds off the bench to lead the Aggies (11-3, 1-0). Georgia’s Shacobia Barbee scored 17 and added 14 boards to lead the Lady Bulldogs (12-2, 0-1) in the losing effort.

 “It was a slow start,” said A&M head coach Gary Blair. “But in the middle part of the game we were as good as we have been in a long time. It’s an SEC win, you cherish these things.”

It appeared it would be a long day at the office for the Aggies after Georgia scored the game’s first seven points, but a 7-0 run of their own over the quarter’s final three minutes pulled A&M within two, 13-11, at the first quarter break.

The Aggies continued their hot streak into the second period, starting the quarter 8-of-10 from the field with a pair of three-pointers to take a 27-17 advantage with 4:52 left in the half.

As for what changed, A&M point guard Jordan Jones said the team calmed down after the first few minutes.

“We struggled with execution and making shots early on,” Jones said. “But, we settled in and after the first quarter everybody was a little more relaxed and we started hitting our shots.”

In the third, the Aggies grew their lead as large as 17 points before Georgia made a push in the game’s final 10 minutes to cut the A&M advantage as low as eight. While the Lady Bulldogs certainly attempted to claw their way back into the contest, strong free throw shooting down the stretch iced the game for A&M.

Over the course of the second half, the Aggies sunk an outstanding 24-of-30 (80%) shots from the charity stripe.

“Coach (Amy) Wright makes us shoot 100 free throws before our game,” said Jones. “Everyone has to come in on their own team and chart them on the board.

“If you don’t chart them, there are consequences, so everyone has done a good job of holding each other accountable. I feel it’s starting to show more in in-game situations.”

Blair added that not only was the extra work a reason for the higher free throw percentage, but also who was taking the attempts.

“The other thing is, look who I got to the line,” said Blair. “You get the right people to the line and you’re going to shoot well. In end-of-game situations, I want [Jones] fouled and I want Walker fouled and that’s what happened.”

In addition to the clutch free throws down the stretch, A&M’s bench was a big reason the Aggies were victorious. Freshman forward Anriel Howard scored five points and added six rebounds in just eight minutes of action, while center Rachel Mitchell added six more and guard Danni Williams hit a timely three-pointer in the second quarter.

“Along with winning the battle on the boards, our bench was the difference in this game,” said Blair. “We outscored them 28-13 and we’ll take that as a ‘W’.”

But if a Sixth Man Award was being handed out on Sunday, it would have gone to Jennings and her 12-point, seven rebound performance. Jennings, who would be a definite starter on the majority of SEC teams, added her usual spark which helped the Aggies overcome the early deficit.

“Chelsea Jennings, again, comes off the bench and fixes what’s wrong,” said Blair. “That’s why I want her coming off the bench instead of starting.”

With the first conference game of the 2015-2016 season now in the books, A&M hits the road for the first time in SEC play as they travel to Fayetteville for a meeting with the 5-9 Arkansas Razorbacks on Tuesday night.