WBB: No. 12 A&M freezes Auburn 78-45 on 'Frozen' Day

There was no chance of building a snowman on ‘Frozen’ day at Reed Arena as the 12th-ranked Texas A&M women’s basketball team was on fire from the get-go, torching the last place Auburn Tigers 78-45 on Sunday afternoon.

As many young girls attended the game dressed as their favorite Frozen character, the Aggies said ‘Let it Go’ to their two-game losing streak and avoided what would have been just their third three-game skid in the last 10 seasons.

“We needed this game,” said A&M head coach Gary Blair. “It has been so long since I’ve gone into half time and didn’t have to yell at them or change defenses. Kelly Bond did a great job of preparing our team for this game, this was her scout.”

From the opening tip, it was clear that A&M (17-5, 5-3) was the better team, scoring on their first three possessions before opening up a 17-4 lead with 11:00 remaining in the first half. During that stretch, the Aggies held the Tigers (9-13, 0-9) to a solitary field goal on 1-of-10 shooting.

The Tigers mustered a mini-run in the latter part of the half and closed within five, but the Aggies finished the half on a 18-1 run, including a three-pointer from Williams as the buzzer sounded to give A&M a 39-17 lead at the break.

“We [miss layups] a lot,” said Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. “We just have to take our time and make those layups. I think if we make those layups in the beginning, Texas A&M doesn’t win by that margin.”

It was the second verse of the same song in the second half as the Aggies used multiple runs through the half to grow their lead into the 30s and crush any hopes of an Auburn comeback. The team’s 78 points were the highest offensive production thus far in conference play.

And while it’s always a positive to set high marks on the offensive end, it was the team’s play on defense on Sunday that seemed to please Blair the most.

Over the course of the contest, the Aggies acquired 12 steals and held Auburn to just 16 total field goals. After admitting his squad had been lacking defensive intensity recently, Blair had good things to say about the defensive performance despite making a few mistakes in the second half.

“I thought in the first half, [the defense] was outstanding,” said Blair. “We made some mistakes in the second half, but sometimes you have to give the other team credit. They started executing their offense a little better. If the offense is executed, sometimes you can’t do anything about it.

While six Aggies registered at least one steal, Jones lead the way with four. However, in addition to her steals, Jones also recorded another 10 assists, putting her at 489 for her career. That’s now good for fifth all-time in school history as she passed Donna Roper with her third assist of the game early in the first half.

But Jones wasn’t the only Aggie to have a solid performance on the offensive end of the floor. After struggling from the field over the past two games, Courtney Williams found her stroke and hit on 10-of-18 shots on Sunday afternoon, scoring a game high 23 points in the process.

Williams spoke on the difference between this game and the two before and why today was different.

“I was taking percentage shots and not really forcing anything,” said Williams. “I know Coach Blair wants me to score, but that doesn’t mean he wants me to take all the shots. He just wants me to take the open shots and be as efficient as I can.”

Now, the Aggies once again go to the road for a pair of contest over the next week. First up is a trip to Columbia, Missouri to take on the Missouri Tigers at 8 PM on Thursday night before the team makes the trek to Starkville to play former A&M assistant Vic Schaefer’s Mississippi State Bulldogs next weekend.