Texas A&M
20-6, 8-4SEC
Alabama
13-14, 2-10SEC
Women's Basketball Pulls Away for 70-49 Win Over Alabama
Feb 16, 2015 | Women's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION- No. 15 Texas A&M used a career-high 27 points by Courtney Walker to down Alabama 70-49 in a women's basketball game on Monday night at Reed Arena. The win clinched the Aggies' 10th straight 20+ win season.
It was a night of milestones at Reed Arena, as junior Courtney Williams became the 27th Aggie with 1,000 career points, scoring 13 on the night, giving her 1,006 on her career.
In addition, Walker moved into ninth on A&M's career scoring list, passing Toccara Williams (2000-04) and Morenike Atunrase (2004-08) to move into ninth on A&M's career scoring list. Jordan Jones had 10 assists to move past current video coordinator Sydney Colson into fourth on A&M's career list.
Texas A&M (20-6, 8-4 SEC) used an 11-0 run midway through the first half to take a 31-19 lead into the break. The Aggies led by as many as 28 points in the second half to secure the victory over Alabama (13-14, 2-10 SEC).
Chelsea Jennings added 10 points for the Aggies, while Khaalia Hillsman led A&M with 10 rebounds.
The Aggies return to action on Thursday, February 19 at 6 p.m. when they take on No. 11 Kentucky in Lexington, on a game broadcast on SEC Network Plus on WatchESPN. The Aggies return home at 3 p.m. on Sunday, February 22 to host Florida in the BTHO Breast Cancer game.
Notes
• Texas A&M has posted its 10th consecutive 20-win season and the 15th in program history
• Gary Blair has won 20+ games in 24 seasons as a collegiate head coach, moving past former Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan for sole possession of 11th place on the Division I career 20-win seasons list.
• Courtney Williams became the 27th Aggie to score 1,000 career points. She joins teammate Courtney Walker in the 1,000-point club.
• Williams scored in double figures for the 16th time this season and 50th time in her career. She has scored 10+ points in seven of eight games.
• Courtney Walker moved past Toccara Williams (1,302; 2000-04) and Morenike Atunrase (1,317; 2004-08) into ninth on A&M's career points list. Walker has 1,325 points for her career.
• Walker had a career-high 27 points
• This is Walker's sixth 20+ point game of the season and 20th of her career.
• Walker scored in double figures for the eighth straight game, 22nd time this season and 70th time in her career.
• Jordan Jones moved past current video coordinator Sydney Colson (504, 2007-11) for fourth on Texas A&M's all-time career assist list. Jones has 508 assists in her career.
• Jones had 10+ assists for the sixth time this season and 16th time in her career
• Khaalia Hillsman had 10+ rebounds for the second time in her career—with both coming in the last three games. She is averaging 10.0 rebounds in that three-game span.
• Texas A&M has won 16 straight home games and has won 28 of their last 30 games at home
• The Aggies are 122-3 against unranked teams at Reed Arena since Feb. 2005
• With the win, Texas A&M guarantees a single-bye in the SEC Tournament, and will not play on March 4. The Aggies are still playing for a double-bye, and berth into the quarterfinals, in the SEC Tournament
• Gary Blair is now 692-278 for his career and 284-115 at Texas A&M. He needs eight more wins to become the 15th Division I coach with 700 career wins.
• Texas A&M is now 20-6 on the season and 8-4 in SEC play. Alabama is 13-14 and 2-10 in SEC play.
Postgame Quotes
Alabama Head Coach Kristy Curry
On the game…
“I thought Texas A&M's complementary players were really good tonight. (Curtyce) Knox, (Chelsea) Jennings, (Jada) Terry all came off the bench and helped. You can tell they are very experienced. They understand one another. We are very inexperienced. We weren't able to come out in the first four minutes of the second half and set the tone. Credit Texas A&M.”
On what changed that led to the Texas A&M run…
“I think the Courtneys did a great job being more active away from the basketball. They were able to find the seams and were then able to knock down some jump shots. Credit those guys.”
Texas A&M Junior Guard Chelsea Jennings
On what's changed in her game…
“Every time Coach Blair calls my number he tells me to bring great energy, bring great defense, and get rebounds. That's what really gets me going.”
On getting more comfortable on the court…
“Coach Blair gives me a lot of confidence. He tells me to go out there and do my strengths and that's what I try to do.”
Texas A&M junior guard Courtney Walker
On moving into ninth on A&M's career scoring list…
The thing I focus on more than how many I score, is on percentages, being able to be efficient from the floor. I think last game I was six for 18, today I was 13 for 20, so I'm much more proud of it today than the other day. I would have rather been six for 10 or something, so focus on shots calculation and being able to have a high percentage of those shots.
Texas A&M Associate Head Coach Kelly Bond-White
Opening statement…
I thought our kids came out, Chelsea (Jennings) alluded to it, I didn't think our energy was great to start the game. I think one of the things we talked about, our inefficiency offensively early and I thought we didn't get penetration whether it was penetration through the pass, penetration off the dribble. I thought we settled for passes around the arc and that was an adjustment we made at halftime and a lot of that starts with energy. Whether we were just walking off the screens of the zone, whether we weren't cutting as hard, that's what we wanted to change and I think once we made that adjustment our efficiency increased a tad.
On how the win helps going forward
Not necessarily getting a chance to rest some people, but we just talked about efficiency. I think that's what it gives you more than anything when you talk about the milestones, the fact that they did it on percentage shooting, the fact that they did it within the flow of the offense. Courtney (Walker) mentioned she pays attention to that and that's something that we're pushing, the fact that Jordan came back and had 10 assisted buckets. That's what we're looking forward to, that's when our team plays at their best, so if we can carry that over into Kentucky, I like our chances.
