WBB: Aggies shine in 93-27 home blowout of McNeese State

A&M left Reed Arena carrying more than they came with.

The Aggies came into tonight with an undefeated record, they left with that record firmly intact after a 93-27 demolishment of McNeese State.

Along the way they picked up some confidence and flash that has been lacking for the past week, and that is precisely what coach Gary Blair’s game plan called for, “One of my keys for tonight was to get back our mojo, our swag and confidence.” They did so emphatically.

Less than ten minutes into the contest, the Aggies had already mounted a 27-7 lead. They continued to score seemingly at will, while holding McNeese State under twenty points until late in the second half. Both elements were due in large part to the energy the Aggies brought onto the court.

Courtney Walker touched on the Aggies mindset coming in, “The energy we were able to bring on defense turned into offense. I don’t know how many steals and lay ups we made but it fueled us and kept us going throughout the entire game.”

A large part of that fire was due to Courtney Williams and her 19 points, almost all of which came in the first 25 minutes. Walker knew how important her impact was, “I was glad to have her back. They were face guarding us, so having that other threat besides Jordan proved a big point. They couldn’t stop our momentum, we have too many threats for that.”

Gary Blair praised the junior guard’s all around game, “Outside of an opening three, I thought every shot Williams took was spot on. She can take you to the hole and score or hit that jumper. It gave me a chance to rest my seniors and play some babies out there. It was the first time I was able to play two posts, which I need to see.

While A&M in no way overlooked the Cowgirls, they knew this was an opportunity to get ready for Sunday’s mega match up with the eighth ranked Duke Blue Devils.

Coach Blair talked about the importance of stepping up their games, “We cannot turn on the light switch for Duke unless we have learned how to play well at home and get the crowd involved and get our running game going.” Blair liked what he saw from his team, “We realize that playing a half court game plays to Duke’s advantage. We’ll have to make them miss on defense, which we did tonight and we need to run in transition which we did a great job of.”

The Aggies went go the holiday on a high note, and as Coach Blair so astutely proclaimed, “It is always nice to like your team going into Thanksgiving.”

The next game for the Aggies is a big one, Duke comes to town for a Sunday showdown at high noon.