Texas A&M
4-0
Rice
1-1
Aggies Move to 4-0 with 76-55 Win Over Rice
Nov 19, 2014 | Women's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION- Courtney Walker scored her 1,000th career point as No. 5 Texas A&M improved to 4-0 with a 76-55 win over Rice in a women's basketball game at Reed Arena.
Walker, who scored 18 in the game, became the 26th Aggie to reach the 1,000-point plateau with a jumper with five seconds left before halftime, giving the Aggies a 37-27 lead at the break. Walker is the first A&M player to reach 1,000 points since Adaora Elonu on Jan. 24, 2012.
The Aggies opened the game on an 8-2 run and led for the remainder of the game against the Owls (1-1). The win was the Aggies' 11th in their last 12 home openers, and moves the Maroon and White to 37-4 all-time in home openers.
Walker was the Aggies' leading scorer for the sixth straight game, dating back to last season, and scored in double figures for the 17th straight game, dating back to last season.
Jordan Jones had her fourth career double-double, posting 11 points and a season-high 10 assists. Jones has scored 10+ points in three of the Aggies' four games this season. Achiri Ade added 10 points for the Aggies.
A&M is now 4-0 for the fifth time in the last six years, and become Division I's first team to reach 4-0 on the season.
The Aggies remain at Reed Arena for their next game, Monday, November 24th against Prairie View A&M. Tip is set for 7 p.m., with coverage on SEC Network Plus, only on WatchESPN.
QUOTES
Rice Head Coach Greg Williams
On How To Stop Courtney Walker
Pray. There are certain ways you need to play when she's coming off screens and we didn't do it. When you make a mistake against her and she's open, she's going to knock it down. That doesn't mean she wouldn't have hit the shot if we would have defended it properly. They'll make you pay sometimes. You have to learn that the hard way. She is a poised player, 18 points on 13 shots, that's fantastic. She doesn't force things. She had 3 assists no turnovers and goes over the 1,000 point barrier in the fourth game of her junior year. She is a bona-fide great player.
On The Team's Goals
We weren't where we were supposed to be. The coaches can only do so much. In practice we worked on those little things. But ultimately, its up to us to come out on the court and perform those things. Tonight, we got the win, but as a team it's still not what we want. Boxing out is still a problem. Taking care of the ball is still a problem starting with myself. We are never going to be perfect this early in the season. Ultimately, we are just trying to get better day-by-day. We will take a look at it on the film and try to perfect it on the practice court
On passing the 1,000 point milestone
“It is significant just because it make me one of 26 and I have to thank my teammates who I couldn't have done it without.“
On things to improve upon
“Rebounding. Coach pointed out that they had 14 offensive rebounds at the half. That's coming from a team that's not very athletic, compared to some of the other teams that we are going to play. We were quicker than them. We are bigger than them size-wize. There is no reason that we weren't boxing out. We have to double and triple when we play teams like Tennessee and South Carolina whose strengths are offensive rebounding. We have to improve that if we want to stop some of the quicker and bigger teams come league play.
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
“They did a lot of things that hurt us. They kept the ball for 20 to 25 seconds than made one-on-one moves that we didn't stop very well at all. Give Coach Williams a lot of credit. We had to switch to a zone with about ten minutes to play. We played the zone pretty well. We had a couple mistakes on it. Anytime you can force a team to shoot 30% from the field you are doing something right. The thing that we have to improve on is forcing turnovers. You have to have the energy. We are not going to be ahead all of our lives. We are going to be behind sometimes. You have to trust each other on the press. We work on it every day and we have to get better. We didn't really want it that bad on press. I thought Jordan Jones played a great ball game. She was solid. She defended well.
On the switch from Man-to-man
“I think a lot of it is that we want the team to shoot earlier in the shot clock. They are working the ball and reversing the floor. They are being very patient and waiting for us to make a mistake. You have to have great team defense.
QUICKIE NOTES
- Texas A&M never trailed in the win against their former Southwest Conference foe. The Aggies are now 31-10 all-time against the Owls and have won 10 of the last 11 matchups in College Station.
- No. 5 Texas A&M started 4-0 for the fifth time in the last six years. They are the nation's first team to reach 4-0.
- The Aggies improve to 37-4 in home openers, and are 11-1 in their last 12 home openers
- Courtney Walker became the 26th Texas A&M women's basketball player to reach 1,000 points in her career on a jumper with five seconds remaining in the first half. She is the first Aggie to reach 1,000 points since Adaora Elonu on Jan. 24, 2012.
- Walker has been the Aggies leading scorer in six straight games, including all four this season
- Walker reached double figures for the 17th straight game, dating back to last season and 52nd time in her career.
- Jordan Jones had her fourth career double-double, and first this year with 11 points and 10 assists
- Jones had 11 points, marking her third double-digit scoring effort in four games this season and the 11th of her career.
- Jones had a season-high 10 assists. This is her 11th career game with double-digit assists, and first this season
- Achiri Ade had a season-high 10 points, marking her first double-digit scoring game this season and ninth of her career.
- Texas A&M has won 69 consecutive non-conference home games against unranked opponents and 54 consecutive home games against “mid-majors”
Aggies defeat Rice 76-55! #ShareTheWin #12thMan pic.twitter.com/85v6fex5RJ
— Aggie Women's Hoops (@AggieWBB) November 20, 2014
Good win tonight by @AggieWBB ... a 21-point victory over Rice. Had a blast on the call. Can't wait for the next one! #GreatExperience
— Gabe Bock (@GabeBock) November 20, 2014
Courtney Walker has just become the 26th Aggie, and first since 2011-12, to reach 1,000 career points!
— Aggie Women's Hoops (@AggieWBB) November 20, 2014
