Sunday, November 13
College Station
6:00 PM
Texas A&M
1-0
74
vs
49
Central Arkansas
1-1
1
2
3
4
F
Central Arkansas
10
8
16
15
49
Texas A&M
16
18
17
23
74
Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics
Aggies Open Season with Win Over Central Arkansas
Nov 13, 2016 | Women's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION- Texas A&M's women's basketball team opened its season with a 74-49 win over Central Arkansas at Reed Arena on Sunday evening. Danni Williams led the Aggies with a career-high 25 points.
The Aggies (1-0) got going in the first quarter with a 12-2 run that gave Texas A&M a 16-10 lead after a quarter and an eventual 34-18 halftime lead, and never let the Sugar Bears (1-1) back into the game. This was only the fifth loss for Central Arkansas since the start of the 2015-16 season, who have gone 29-5 in that span.
Williams, who is expected to step up into a bigger role for Texas A&M (1-0) this season, had a career night, scoring 25 points with three 3-pointers, besting her previous career-high of 14, which came in the 2015-16 season opener against Texas State.
Curtyce Knox, also expected to step into a bigger role for the Aggies in 2016-17, had a career-high 11 assists to go along with seven points. Khaalia Hillsman picked up her second career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
???????Anriel Howard also reached double figure points with 11, including a 3-pointer on her first career 3-point attempt.
Aahliyah Jackson, Alyssa Michalke, Rakell Spencer, Jasmine Williams and Walnatia Wright all made their Texas A&M debuts tonight.
The Aggies return to the Reed Arena court on Thursday, November 17 at 7 p.m. to host former conference foe Texas Tech at 7 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.
QUICKIE NOTES
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
Opening Statement…
"We are going to have a lot of games where we have to find out who is playing hot and who is not. Dani [Williams] had a lot of open looks against better defense. After people see what she did today, she is not going to be that wide open. She is learning to move about the ball like [Courtney] Walker did and that is what that position has to do. She's getting a lot of confidence and has worked hard all summer. [Khaalia] Hillsman was probably the most improved player on the court. She is taking up an army down there who are trying to guard her. We are a work in progress. I was able to play the bench because my starters gave us a comfortable lead."
On if he expected to get the lead early….
"We've been working on this game plan for three weeks. This was Kelly Bonds' game plan and [Bob] Starkey will have Texas Tech. Kelly could tell you whether they were choosing Beechnut or Juicy Fruit. I mean she had them down pat. What she's got to do is figure out how to stop number 22. Thankfully, [Maggie Proffitt] didn't play the last seven minutes or she would have had 30 points. I give Proffitt a lot of credit. I think she's a senior and she's just a solid ball player who knows how to handle the ball. My freshmen can learn by watching her. No, I didn't think this was going to be an easy game. We played it like it was a conference game, that's how well prepared we were for them defensively. The majority of the time, we did a pretty good job."
TEXAS A&M JUNIOR KHAALIA HILLSMAN
On energy for the game….
"It was the first game of the season. I'm always excited to step onto our home floor with these group of girls. We gel so well together, it is just really fun playing with them. It is just the excitement and need and want to play with these girls."
On take away from game…
"In the pregame talk, we know that we are going to have to play with a chip on our shoulder every game. We have so much doubt coming into this season. We have so many people saying that we have lost 70 percent of our scoring, but little do they know we have so much scoring on the team right now. Just because it was not shown last season does not mean we do not have it. I'm excited to prove people wrong. I think everyone else is, too. It's not going to be easy for anybody, but that is the main goal right now."
TEXAS A&M SOPHOMORE DANNI WILLIAMS
On her game...
"I just tried to get going early, just to give us a little spark. I think I missed my first two shots and so I was just trying to get going and I guess from there I was just feeling it the rest of the game. Last year I was a more situational player, so this year I really worked on not just relying on my three point shot and having that one to two dribble pull-up."
On what's different for her to be able to get those shots...
"I have just being in the gym working and trying to find Curtyce [Knox]. She's finding me and so she makes it easy for me if I get space."
On getting in the lead at halftime…
"I think we were just energized from the start. Like Khaalia [Hillsman] said, it's the first game. They played pretty well, so we credit them, but I think our energy helped us. We just feed off of each other pretty well. We like playing with each other, so I think this was finally the first game that helped us out."
The Aggies (1-0) got going in the first quarter with a 12-2 run that gave Texas A&M a 16-10 lead after a quarter and an eventual 34-18 halftime lead, and never let the Sugar Bears (1-1) back into the game. This was only the fifth loss for Central Arkansas since the start of the 2015-16 season, who have gone 29-5 in that span.
Williams, who is expected to step up into a bigger role for Texas A&M (1-0) this season, had a career night, scoring 25 points with three 3-pointers, besting her previous career-high of 14, which came in the 2015-16 season opener against Texas State.
Curtyce Knox, also expected to step into a bigger role for the Aggies in 2016-17, had a career-high 11 assists to go along with seven points. Khaalia Hillsman picked up her second career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
???????Anriel Howard also reached double figure points with 11, including a 3-pointer on her first career 3-point attempt.
Aahliyah Jackson, Alyssa Michalke, Rakell Spencer, Jasmine Williams and Walnatia Wright all made their Texas A&M debuts tonight.
The Aggies return to the Reed Arena court on Thursday, November 17 at 7 p.m. to host former conference foe Texas Tech at 7 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.
QUICKIE NOTES
- The Aggies won their season opener for the fourth straight year and 11th time in the past 12 seasons. Texas A&M is 30-13 in season openers
- Texas A&M won its home opener for the fourth straight year and 13th time in 14 years. The Aggies are 39-4 all-time in home openers
- Texas A&M has now won 64 straight games against mid-majors at home, and is 134-4 against unranked teams at home since Feb. 2005. The Aggies are 43-7 at home since the start of the 2013-14 season.
- Danni Williams had a career-high 25 points. Her previous career-high was 14 points on Nov. 13, 2015, last year's season-opener against Texas State
- Williams now has two career double-digit scoring games and one career 20+ point game
- Khaalia Hillsman had her third career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds
- It was her 14th career double-digit scoring game
- It was her eighth career 10+ rebound game
- Curtyce Knox set a career-high with 11 assists
- It is her first career double-digit assist game
- She now has five consecutive starts with 5+ assists, dating back to 2014-15. She has 5+ assists in 7 of her 10 career starts.
- Anriel Howard had 11 points, her second career double-digit scoring game
- She made her first career 3-pointer, on her first career 3-point attempt, in the fourth quarter
- Aahliyah Jackson, Alyssa Michalke, Rakell Spencer, Jasmine Williams and Walnatia Wright made their Texas A&M debuts tonight.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
Opening Statement…
"We are going to have a lot of games where we have to find out who is playing hot and who is not. Dani [Williams] had a lot of open looks against better defense. After people see what she did today, she is not going to be that wide open. She is learning to move about the ball like [Courtney] Walker did and that is what that position has to do. She's getting a lot of confidence and has worked hard all summer. [Khaalia] Hillsman was probably the most improved player on the court. She is taking up an army down there who are trying to guard her. We are a work in progress. I was able to play the bench because my starters gave us a comfortable lead."
On if he expected to get the lead early….
"We've been working on this game plan for three weeks. This was Kelly Bonds' game plan and [Bob] Starkey will have Texas Tech. Kelly could tell you whether they were choosing Beechnut or Juicy Fruit. I mean she had them down pat. What she's got to do is figure out how to stop number 22. Thankfully, [Maggie Proffitt] didn't play the last seven minutes or she would have had 30 points. I give Proffitt a lot of credit. I think she's a senior and she's just a solid ball player who knows how to handle the ball. My freshmen can learn by watching her. No, I didn't think this was going to be an easy game. We played it like it was a conference game, that's how well prepared we were for them defensively. The majority of the time, we did a pretty good job."
TEXAS A&M JUNIOR KHAALIA HILLSMAN
On energy for the game….
"It was the first game of the season. I'm always excited to step onto our home floor with these group of girls. We gel so well together, it is just really fun playing with them. It is just the excitement and need and want to play with these girls."
On take away from game…
"In the pregame talk, we know that we are going to have to play with a chip on our shoulder every game. We have so much doubt coming into this season. We have so many people saying that we have lost 70 percent of our scoring, but little do they know we have so much scoring on the team right now. Just because it was not shown last season does not mean we do not have it. I'm excited to prove people wrong. I think everyone else is, too. It's not going to be easy for anybody, but that is the main goal right now."
TEXAS A&M SOPHOMORE DANNI WILLIAMS
On her game...
"I just tried to get going early, just to give us a little spark. I think I missed my first two shots and so I was just trying to get going and I guess from there I was just feeling it the rest of the game. Last year I was a more situational player, so this year I really worked on not just relying on my three point shot and having that one to two dribble pull-up."
On what's different for her to be able to get those shots...
"I have just being in the gym working and trying to find Curtyce [Knox]. She's finding me and so she makes it easy for me if I get space."
On getting in the lead at halftime…
"I think we were just energized from the start. Like Khaalia [Hillsman] said, it's the first game. They played pretty well, so we credit them, but I think our energy helped us. We just feed off of each other pretty well. We like playing with each other, so I think this was finally the first game that helped us out."
Team Stats
UCA
TAMU
FG%
.351
.468
3FG%
.167
.500
FT%
.778
.714
RB
29
43
TO
15
14
STL
1
5
Game Leaders
Pts
25
FGM
10
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
C
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
C
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