Only one game was played at Reed Arena today, as the men’s game against Boston College was canceled. For fans still needing their basketball fix, the Aggie woman’s team took on the Sugar Bears of Central Arkansas, winning convincingly, 84-27.
Despite the lopsided score at the end of the game, Coach Gary Blair said “that team (UCA) has been in the NCAA Tournament two out of the last three years. We just played well. It was us today. We made a good team look very average today.”
Coach Blair could not have been more correct. The Ags began the game on a 6-0 run, forcing Central Arkansas to call a timeout. It was evident that the Aggies had a different mentality coming into today’s game. “Our energy and our willingness to compete was a big difference. Our loss against Lamar opened up our eyes and just showed we have to compete harder and play harder,” said sophomore post Ciera Johnson.
There was no stopping the Ags today, who finished the first quarter up 23-4. This pattern of dominance continued into the second quarter and into halftime, as the Ags were leading Central Arkansas 41-12 at the break.
It would be intelligent to guess that Chennedy Carter, A&M’s leading scorer, was having a big game in such a convincing victory, but that wasn’t the case as she finished with only 12 points. Six players for the Aggies scored at least six points in an effort that featured contribution from A&M across the board. “This is a ball game where I got 12 kids double-figure minutes. We won the game by 40 and didn’t shoot that well from the one and the two positions, but we had a lot of other good things,” Blair said.
Moving into the second half, the Aggies continued in their aggression and pressure. This was something fans questioned because it would be easy to let off the gas pedal with such a lead. Sophomore Ciera Johnson spoke on why that did not happen, though. “We’re not playing just to beat the University of Central Arkansas. We’re competing and playing to beat the South Carolinas and the Oregon States. The elite teams in the country and the teams in the SEC. Against SEC teams, every possession matters. We’re competing to not just win today, but to win in the future as well.”
The way the Aggies competed showed up clearly in the stat sheet in their totals for points in the paint and points off turnovers.
The Aggies forced 23 turnovers that led to 23 points. The Aggies gave Central Arkansas multiple defensive looks including “21 Wing, which was a trap that was giving them problems,” said Coach Blair.
A&M dominated inside with 30 points in the paint while holding Central Arkansas to only 16. This inside presence was led by sophomore Ciera Johnson and senior Caylinne Martin who combined for 18 points and 18 rebounds, with Johnson finishing with double figures in both categories.
Coach Blair praised their play today. “Caylinne Martin came in and was pretty impressive. Now we just have to get her to do it against big time competition like Oregon State and SEC teams that are coming. Ciera Johnson just had two really good games in the low post. Instead of missing those bunnies that she was missing early in the season, she’s starting to knock them down. That just comes down to inactivity. When you haven’t played in a year and a half or so, all of a sudden it’s coming.” Blair mentioning Ciera Johnson not playing is referring to her sitting out a year after transferring from Louisville.
Possibly the most interesting note about today’s game is that the Aggies did not practice yesterday. Coach Blair remarked, “This team is growing. This has probably been our easiest ball game that we’ve had so far, but we didn’t expect it to be easy. How many times do you come out and win by 40 and not practice the day before? This is the first time I’ve ever played a game without practicing the day before. We had to have final exam time and that’s why we will not practice tomorrow.”
Looking ahead for this young Aggie team, Coach Blair joked that “the only thing that’s important tomorrow is the Cowboys beating Philadelphia,” before stating that his team will “practice Monday in between finals and then get on a plane to Maui,” to face UC Riverside and the eight ranked Oregon State Beavers.
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