Texas A&M defeats Vanderbilt 69-53, earn sixth straight victory
The Texas A&M women’s basketball team (17-4, 6-2) extended their winning streak to six games after a convincing victory over the Commodores of Vanderbilt (6-15, 1-7) Thursday night at Reed Arena 69-53.
The Aggies brought a great deal of energy early, which led to a quick 11-0 run to commence the game.
“We were really ready to play this game. You could tell by the 11-0 start, and it easily could have been 15-0 or 16-0,” said Coach Gary Blair postgame.
It looked as if the game was going to quickly get out of hand for the struggling Commodores (now 1-7 in conference play), but Vanderbilt responded with a 7-0 run as a deterrent to the immediate Aggie momentum.
Good energy and the ability to adjust was important for the Aggies because jump shots did not seem to be falling. Chennedy Carter and Kayla Wells, who lead the Aggies in scoring, combined for a mere 1-14 from the floor in the first half.
Adjustment wise, these shooting struggles were combatted by getting the ball inside and getting to the free throw line. Coach Blair was pleased with his team’s ability to adjust.
“When things are not going well, get to the free throw line, whether or not you’re making them. We had 33 attempts. It stops the game and allows my post players to play longer minutes.”
The 1-14 shooting by Carter and Wells in the first half was made up for by their 14 foul shot attempts prior to halftime, 11 finding the bottom of the net.
Getting the ball inside, or more accurately getting the ball to Ciera Johnson, was necessary for the Aggies to maintain their lead over Vanderbilt. Ciera Johnson nearly had a double-double in the first half with 10 points and nine rebounds, not to mention her four free throw attempts.
Coach Blair has been very pleased with her as of late. “Ciera is turning into one of the best five players in our league.”
The Aggies entered the second half with a 33-18 lead, but their success offensively switched gears completely.
Ciera Johnson was held to just five points and three rebounds after the intermission, but fortunately for the Aggies, Chennedy Carter ended her cold spell. Her 15 second half points helped the Aggies extend their lead and put away Vanderbilt seemingly early, leading by 16 points after three quarters of play 54-38.
Carter commented on her mentality heading back out after a tough first half offensively, “I just play to win. If I am not having the best game shooting the ball, my team will continue to find me, and eventually the shots will fall down. That’s what I did. I continued to look for Ciera Johnson and look for whoever was open and move the ball on offense to get some easy points.”
Perhaps the most impressive, yet undervalued stat of this game was the Aggies only turned the ball over eight times, including a goose egg in the turnover column from Shambria Washington.
Coach Blair showed a lot of appreciation for Washington after the game. “Sham is as solid as a rock. Where would we be without her? I’m very pleased there.”
Looking forward, A&M goes on the road for two games against Ole Miss and Missouri, with the Ole Miss game bringing back memories of a bad loss two years ago.
Coach Blair plans to use that loss as motivation. “I will show them that Ole Miss game we lost two years ago, and that Ole Miss team was near the bottom of the league then as well. I want to make sure we’re not taking anyone for granted.”
In mentioning how he wants his team to move forward, Coach Blair praised his assistants as well as noted some long-term goals.
“We’re road warriors. When we go on the road, we game plan pretty well. We watch film. I’ve got a very veteran staff that does a lot of the little things to take pressure off of me.”
“We’re not trying to get into the NCAA tournament. I think we’re already there. We’re trying to get in the top-4 in the SEC tournament to get a double bye, and we’re trying to get at least a four seed in the NCAA tournament to be able to play at home.”
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