Texas A&M
North Dakota
Texas A&M Women's Basketball
A&M shakes off slow start in 15-point opening round win
COLLEGE STATION - For the second straight season the Texas A&M women’s basketball team dismissed an NCAA Tournament newcomer in a somewhat lopsided victory in the first round.
Behind 19 points from Courtney Walker and 14 from Tori Scott and Karla Gilbert, the third-seeded Aggies (25-8) dropped North Dakota 70-55 in front of 6,075 fans at Reed Arena in their opening-round game. Last year A&M knocked off first-timer Wichita State in the teams’ first-round contest.
“This is the fifth or the sixth first-timer that we have played in the tournament,” said A&M head coach Gary Blair. “By far, North Dakota played us better than all the others we had in the first round.”
That short back-and-forth between the two squads proved to foreshadow the rest of the first half. The Aggies shot just 38 percent from the field and hit on just 6-of-18 shots to take just a 30-26 lead to the locker room at the half.
Although ESPN had its cameras in the A&M locker room during the break, Blair wasn’t afraid to be hard on his players.
“We had to win a ball game,” said Blair. “Sometimes you just can’t keep patting athletes on the back all the time.”
Whatever was said during the half seemed to work. The Aggies started the second half with a 10-0 run, scoring on five of their first seven possessions.
During the streak four different A&M players scored, while Walker and Courtney Williams combined for three steals on the defensive end.
“At halftime the coaches told us it was going to be a short season if we didn’t pick it up,” said Jones. “Our main focus was to pick up the intensity and use our speed and quickness to get out in transition.”
With 15:25 left to play Walker grabbed a steal and pushed the ball ahead, where she hit Jones going to the hoop. Jones’ momentum was carrying her out of bounds, but the sophomore made a beautiful touch pass to Williams who laid it in off the glass as she was fouled.
What could be argued as the most ‘wowing’ play of the season gave the Aggies a 46-28 lead and seemingly put the game away.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
A&M allowed North Dakota to hang around longer than expected, partially due to missed shots and also to what was labeled a lack of intensity.
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“[Courtney Walker] and I have a connection with one another and really know where each other are on the floor,” Jones stated. “We do a three-on-two drill and the three of us go through it a lot with each other, so that play was basically repetition.
“I knew that once Courtney [Walker] passed the ball to me and I saw Courtney Williams diving down to the post that she could score on pretty much anybody. It was just good ball movement and running the floor.”
Jones’ assist on the play was one of 11 on the night. By doing so, the sophomore registered double-digit assists for the fifth straight game and also set the A&M single-season record with 237 dimes.
Although Jones was clearly happy to break the record, she admitted it wasn’t an item of focus in the least.
“It doesn’t feel like a national championship,” Jones said of breaking the record. “Whatever it takes to get my team to that point is all I’m concerned about at this time.”
A&M grew its lead to as many as 22 with 12:13 to play on a layup by Gilbert and then seemed to call off the dogs as it coasted to the victory. North Dakota went on a late 9-0 run and cut the Aggie lead to as few as 10 on an easy layup from senior Madi Buck, but it wasn’t enough — the horn sounded and A&M claimed a first-round victory for the eighth straight season.
Blair believes his ability to not overlook any opponent is the reason behind the eight-year streak.
“We’re always going to get off to a good start,” said Blair. “We never overlook anyone at any time. I don’t take anything lightly.”
If the Aggies want to advance to the Sweet Sixteen — something they failed to do last season — they will need a second-round victory over 11th-seeded James Madison. The Dukes pulled the upset in the day’s first game at Reed, beating sixth-seeded Gonzaga 72-63.
Even though JMU comes in as a double-digit seed, Blair believes the Dukes are better than their slot and will present an extremely tough matchup for the Aggies.
“The NCAA committee seeded James Madison wrong,” Blair said of his second-round opponent. “They’re a whole lot better than their seed. It doesn’t matter, they took care of business against a good Gonzaga team. James Madison shares the ball and we will have our hands full in this ball game.”
Behind 19 points from Courtney Walker and 14 from Tori Scott and Karla Gilbert, the third-seeded Aggies (25-8) dropped North Dakota 70-55 in front of 6,075 fans at Reed Arena in their opening-round game. Last year A&M knocked off first-timer Wichita State in the teams’ first-round contest.
“This is the fifth or the sixth first-timer that we have played in the tournament,” said A&M head coach Gary Blair. “By far, North Dakota played us better than all the others we had in the first round.”
We had to win a ball game. Sometimes you just can’t keep patting athletes on the back all the time.
{"Module":"quote","Alignment":"left","Quote":"We had to win a ball game. Sometimes you just can’t keep patting athletes on the back all the time.","Author":"Gary Blair on his halftime speech"}
A&M point guard Jordan Jones hit a pull-up jumper on the Aggies’ first possession of the game, but North Dakota’s Mia Loyd immediately answered with a three to give UND (22-10) an early 3-2 lead.That short back-and-forth between the two squads proved to foreshadow the rest of the first half. The Aggies shot just 38 percent from the field and hit on just 6-of-18 shots to take just a 30-26 lead to the locker room at the half.
Although ESPN had its cameras in the A&M locker room during the break, Blair wasn’t afraid to be hard on his players.
“We had to win a ball game,” said Blair. “Sometimes you just can’t keep patting athletes on the back all the time.”
Whatever was said during the half seemed to work. The Aggies started the second half with a 10-0 run, scoring on five of their first seven possessions.
During the streak four different A&M players scored, while Walker and Courtney Williams combined for three steals on the defensive end.
“At halftime the coaches told us it was going to be a short season if we didn’t pick it up,” said Jones. “Our main focus was to pick up the intensity and use our speed and quickness to get out in transition.”
With 15:25 left to play Walker grabbed a steal and pushed the ball ahead, where she hit Jones going to the hoop. Jones’ momentum was carrying her out of bounds, but the sophomore made a beautiful touch pass to Williams who laid it in off the glass as she was fouled.
What could be argued as the most ‘wowing’ play of the season gave the Aggies a 46-28 lead and seemingly put the game away.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
A&M allowed North Dakota to hang around longer than expected, partially due to missed shots and also to what was labeled a lack of intensity.
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"right","Size":"large","Caption":"A\u0026M allowed North Dakota to hang around longer than expected, partially due to missed shots and also to what was labeled a lack of intensity.","MediaItemID":42283}
“I knew that once Courtney [Walker] passed the ball to me and I saw Courtney Williams diving down to the post that she could score on pretty much anybody. It was just good ball movement and running the floor.”
Jones’ assist on the play was one of 11 on the night. By doing so, the sophomore registered double-digit assists for the fifth straight game and also set the A&M single-season record with 237 dimes.
Although Jones was clearly happy to break the record, she admitted it wasn’t an item of focus in the least.
“It doesn’t feel like a national championship,” Jones said of breaking the record. “Whatever it takes to get my team to that point is all I’m concerned about at this time.”
A&M grew its lead to as many as 22 with 12:13 to play on a layup by Gilbert and then seemed to call off the dogs as it coasted to the victory. North Dakota went on a late 9-0 run and cut the Aggie lead to as few as 10 on an easy layup from senior Madi Buck, but it wasn’t enough — the horn sounded and A&M claimed a first-round victory for the eighth straight season.
Blair believes his ability to not overlook any opponent is the reason behind the eight-year streak.
“We’re always going to get off to a good start,” said Blair. “We never overlook anyone at any time. I don’t take anything lightly.”
If the Aggies want to advance to the Sweet Sixteen — something they failed to do last season — they will need a second-round victory over 11th-seeded James Madison. The Dukes pulled the upset in the day’s first game at Reed, beating sixth-seeded Gonzaga 72-63.
Even though JMU comes in as a double-digit seed, Blair believes the Dukes are better than their slot and will present an extremely tough matchup for the Aggies.
“The NCAA committee seeded James Madison wrong,” Blair said of his second-round opponent. “They’re a whole lot better than their seed. It doesn’t matter, they took care of business against a good Gonzaga team. James Madison shares the ball and we will have our hands full in this ball game.”
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