WBB: No. 13 A&M rolls Texas State 87-50 in season opener

By Ronnie Woodard

November 13, 2015

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Although the Texas A&M women’s basketball team finished last year in disappointing fashion after being bounced from the first round of the NCAA Tournament, expectations are as high as ever entering the 2015-2016 season. With a nucleus of talented and experienced seniors, Gary Blair’s current squad could be one of his best ever.

However, it was the underclassmen that stole the show in Friday night’s season opener.

Behind 17 points from sophomore center Khaalia Hillsman and 14 more from freshman Danni Willams, the 13th-ranked Aggies trounced the visiting Texas State Bobcats 87-50 at Reed Arena. With the victory, the Aggies move to 12-1 in home openers under Blair.

Matt Sachs, TexAgs Sophomore center Khaalia Hillsman scored a career high 17 points and added six rebounds in Friday's win. {"Module":"photo","Alignment":"right","Size":"large","Caption":"Sophomore center Khaalia Hillsman scored a career high 17 points and added six rebounds in Friday\u0027s win.","MediaItemID":48571}

From the onset, A&M (1-0) set the tone and put a stranglehold on the Bobcats (0-1), scoring 16 of the first 19 points for a 16-3 lead with 4:53 left in the first quarter. During that early stretch, Hillsman scored eight of her game-high 17 before going to the bench with foul trouble.

“Khaalia was able to score eight points in four minutes before foul trouble,” said Blair. “I was really pleased with the five-players. They’re supposed to score against (Texas State's) size.”

Thanks in part to a high intensity full court press, the Aggies forced 16 first half takeaways which led to a 16-0 advantage in points off turnovers at halftime. Although they let up on the press in the second half, Blair was pleased with the intensity his team showed early on.

“We’ve changed up our press a little,” said Blair. “We’re running a lot of different things off of it. A lot of our defensive traps worked. (Assistant) coach (Bob) Starkey has worked hard on helping us force more turnovers.”

Already holding a 28-point lead, the Aggies continued the onslaught to begin the second half. A quick 7-0 run over the third quarter’s first 2:19 allowed A&M to push their lead to 37 at 56-19 before eventually growing it to a game-high 43 points midway through the fourth.

With 7:44 remaining in the contest Danni Williams drained her third three-pointer of the game. The basket tied a school record for three-pointers made in an Aggie debut, putting her alongside Sabrina Mitchell (2001), Sydney Colson (2007) and Danielle Adams (2009) in that category.

Williams’ 14 points was also the most for an A&M freshman in her debut since 2004.

“I came in nervous with a lot of adrenaline,” said Danni Williams. “But once I settled down, I felt really good. My teammates helped. The seniors are really good at leading us.”

Blair was also pleased with the performance of his other newcomers, freshman Anriel Howard and sophomore transfer Jasmine Lumpkin. Howard finished the game with seven points and five rebounds, while Lumpkin scored four and pulled down eight boards.

“Look at Anriel: four offensive boards, seven points, two steals, one assist and 3-of-3 shooting in 13 minutes,” said Blair. “How can you have a better start as a freshman?”

Matt Sachs, TexAgs Courtney Walker scored in double-figures for the 75th time in her A&M career on Friday night. {"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"Courtney Walker scored in double-figures for the 75th time in her A\u0026M career on Friday night.","MediaItemID":48584}

As for the senior group that will ultimately be the driving force behind this team, Courtney Walker finished with 16 points, Courtney Williams scored 10 and Jordan Jones – coming off an ACL injury at the end of last season – dished out a 7:3 assist/turnover ratio while adding two points of her own.

“Walker was Walker, (Courtney) Williams was not Williams until the second half,” said Blair. “Then she started scoring easy instead of the hard shots she was taking in the first half.”

With minutes being spread amongst the team in nonconference action, expect production from those three to rise as Blair shortens his bench.

“I was able to play 12 kids in double-figure minutes,” said Blair. “That’s hard to do. Eventually I’ll have to cut the rotation, but right now everybody loves me because everyone is playing double-figure minutes.”

With their first official game now in the books, it’s a quick turnaround for the Aggies as they host Southern at 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

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Tags: Gary Blair, Texas A&M vs. Texas State, Khaalia Hillsman, Courtney Williams, Anriel Howard, Danni Williams, Jordan Jones, Courtney Walker, Women's Basketball, Texas A&M, Texas State