WBB: A&M opens SEC play with 73-58 victory over Alabama

There is something to be said about the ability to start strong when working towards completing a task.

On Sunday, the Texas A&M women’s basketball team took the first step to defending last year’s SEC Tournament title as they rolled the Alabama Crimson Tide, 73-58, in front of 5,385 fans at Reed Arena. With the victory, A&M moves to 11-4 on the season and 1-0 in conference play, while the Tide falls to 7-8 on the year and 0-2 in the SEC.

Forward Achiri Ade picked up her third double-double of the season and led the Aggies with 21 points and 12 rebounds which were both career highs. Sophomore Courtney Williams added another 23 points in the victory.

“I thought we did a lot of good things offensively,” said A&M head coach Gary Blair. “We saw the zone [defense] again which we expected and a little bit of man in the second half which I thought we exploited.”

With the start of the ‘second season’ on their mind, the Aggies jumped out to a hot start against the Crimson Tide, scoring on their first five possessions of the game to take an early 11-4 lead.

The A&M advantage would grow to as many as 13 on a layup by Karla Gilbert with 2:54 left in the half before settling at a 10-point, 41-31 margin as the two teams went to the locker room at the break.

At that point, it looked as if the Aggies would coast to another victory over the Tide – a team they beat by 39 at Reed Arena last season – but the much-improved Alabama squad would not go down lightly and clawed their way back into the game.

With 16:31 remaining in the contest, Tide guard Shafontaye Myers hit a jumper which sparked a 14-2 run that brought the Tide within three.

“Our defense [let them back in the game],” said Williams. “We just kept letting them get to the lane. Our help defense wasn’t good. We need to focus on our defense for the whole game.”

But A&M weathered the storm and answered the Alabama streak with an 11-0 run at the hands of Ade and backup point guard Curtyce Knox.

With 11:34 to go, Knox knocked down a pair of free throws. Then, Ade knocked down a pair of her own and hit on a layup to grow the lead back to nine.

After an Alabama turnover on their ensuing possession, Ade proceeded to find the bottom of the basket after battling for two offensive rebounds before Knox finished the stretch by nailing a three-pointer to give A&M a 14-point lead.

The 11-point swing ended any real threat of an Alabama upset and ultimately sealed the game for the Aggies.

“I’ve been working on my game off the court,” said Ade in regards to her success today. “I’ve been working on not doing the same things because people scout me and know how I play. I’m just trying to make my game more than it is already.”

Although Williams did not contribute during the game-sealing run, she did have a contest-high 23 points. That marked the fourth game in a row the Houston product has gone for 20+, something not done by an Aggie since Danielle Adams did so during the ’10-’11 season.

“Courtney Williams is coming into her own,” said Blair. “I’m glad people could see her do this against a conference team, and not just against non-conference teams. She’s playing well, her shooting percentage is good and her free throws are good. If she can cut down the turnovers, we have something special there.”

Next up, A&M begins perhaps the toughest three-game stretch of their schedule with road contests against No. 16 LSU and No. 18 Georgia before returning home to face No. 12 South Carolina on January 16th.

“We have two on the road and then the students will be back for the rest of the semester,” concluded Blair. “Hopefully we will come back with no worse than a 1-1 split.”