Nixon nets 25 as No. 24 Aggies cruise to 95-75 victory over DePaul

No. 24 Texas A&M continued their homestand on Monday night as they faced off against the DePaul Blue Demons, and the Aggies improved to 3-0 on the season after routing the visitors, 95-75.

The Aggies offense started with Qadashah Hoppie, who came out the gates scoring nine of A&M’s 26 first-quarter points.

“I thought she played well,” head coach Gary Blair said of Hoppie. “Small ball was the way we needed to play. We needed speed and defense. That’s why she started today.”

The second quarter was highlighted by guard Jordan Nixon, who had 17 points and was 4-6 from behind the arc in the second stanza. Nixon finished with 25 points and ended her night shooting 50 percent from the field.

“I thought, when we made our run in the second quarter, Jordan was being Jordan, and she’s just a gamer,” Blair said. “She knows how to play.”

Postgame, Nixon discussed her personal game plan.

“Our word for the day was ‘attack.’ we were in attack mode,” Nixon said. “That was my mentality coming in. My confidence comes from doing it over and over again. In the game, I just react, and I practice a lot of those moves.”

Texas A&M outscored DePaul by 30-16 in the third quarter, thanks to Destiny Pitts scoring all of her 10 points in the frame.

The Aggies pulled away by outrebounding DePaul, 52-36. Sydnee Roby led the team in rebounds with nine.

“We were relentless on the boards,” Roby said. “We always emphasize having numbers.”

Four Aggies finished in double figures, and Kayla Wells had 21 points, with nine of them coming in the fourth quarter. The Aggies shot 46.1 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from behind the arc.

“I think we knew what was in front of us coming into the game,” Nixon said. “Every game, we try to get better. It’s about having that foresight when March comes around. We have to take it one game at a time.”

Texas A&M hosts Stephen F. Austin at 7:00 p.m. CT on Thursday at Reed Arena.