Thursday, January 12
College Station
7:00 PM
Texas A&M
13-4, 3-1SEC
90
vs
65
Arkansas
11-6, 0-4SEC
1
2
3
4
F
Arkansas
14
14
13
24
65
Texas A&M
21
19
28
22
90
Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics
Women's Basketball Defeats Arkansas
Jan 12, 2017 | Women's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION- Texas A&M routed Arkansas 90-65 in a women's basketball game on Thursday night at Reed Arena, picking up the Aggies' largest SEC win since 2015. The Aggies shot a blistering 66.0% from the field in the game, just 0.7% off of the school record.
The Aggies (13-4, 3-1 SEC) led 40-28 at the half, but really opened the floodgates in the third quarter, making 10-of-11 shots for a school-record 90.9% field goal percentage in the quarter, outscoring the Razorbacks (11-6, 0-4 SEC) 28-13.
Curtyce Knox matched her career-high with 15 assists, despite sitting for the last eight minutes of the game. Knox helped the Aggies notch a season-high 26 assists on 35 made field goals.
Khaalia Hillsman led the Aggies in scoring with a career-high-tying 25 off of 11-of-13 shooting. Danni Williams chipped in 20 and Jasmine Lumpkin added 11.
The Aggies outscored the Razorbacks 46-14 in the painted area.
The Aggies return to action on Sunday, January 15 at Florida for a game televised on SEC Network at 12 p.m. CT. The next home game for Texas A&M is January 22 as the Aggies host LSU at 4 p.m.
QUICKIE NOTES
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
Opening Statement…
"Give our defense a lot of credit. [Jessica] Jackson was our number one thing that we were trying to stop and we were trying to keep Jackson and [Malica] Monk off the foul line as much as possible. That's three straight games that everybody goes in to stop Jackson first. She's a great offensive player. Sometimes, it takes some of those other kids to step up on their behalf. I was really pleased to see Aaliyah Wilson have the type of game that she had there. I mean the kid could play out of Oklahoma. She's somebody that we wanted and everybody in the country wanted, and maybe this will push her on to start playing like she can. It's not what we shot, it's the shot selection that we had. We shared the ball, moved it around. That's why you have 26 assists and 14 turnovers. If I would've let Curtyce [Knox] finish the game, she would've had the school record probably in assists, but we needed to rest her. We've got two tough road games coming up but the effort that we had, the execution, the isolation that we were able to get with Khaalia [Hillsman]. Whether it was zone or man, to get isolation you've got to make extra passes, you've got to shift people around and she's been doing such a great job of finishing."
On Aggie players and process…
"I'm pleased. Look what Jasmine Lumpkin and Taylor Cooper did. I thought they were huge in the game and I told Danni [Williams]. I said 'Danni, if they're taking you away early, don't force a thing. Wait. Your shots will come as the game goes on and then when they started paying attention to [Khaalia] Hillsman, here comes Danni and then Curtyce [Knox] just reads who's hot. She gives them the ball."
On if the Arkansas victory is a carryover from Kentucky…
"The league is balanced. We felt great about how we played at Kentucky and that was a good Top 25 team. Tonight, I think we could have beat a lot of teams. No matter what their initials are and their names, we could have beat a lot of Top 25 teams today if we could play at this magnitude."
On A&M's game tonight…
"I think what we shot, it was pretty good. The transition baskets were unbelievable for us. That's six on fast break. We were throwing ahead, catching them flatfooted a couple of times. We hadn't seen that in a long, long time. But, I'm just going to say everything worked. You can't just say it was the offense or the defense. It was just A&M tonight."
Arkansas Head Coach Jimmy Dykes
Opening Statement…
"We just got our tails kicked, bottom line. They beat us in every area."
On game plan for Khaalia Hillsman…
"Well, it wasn't our game plan to put one in front and one in back. We were trying to help from every area. She's just a big kid. We didn't do a good job of shoving her off the block and we gave her angles and you can't do that. It's disappointing because we'd worked on it for two straight days. Our post defense wasn't great. Our ball pressure wasn't great and once they started making shots, they all made shots. They've got kids banking in threes that haven't made a three all year so things start snowballing on you."
On game performance…
"It's was not our night tonight. It was simply not our night in any area."
Texas A&M Junior Center Khaalia Hillsman
On what factored into tonight's fast start…
"Definitely practice, we've been doing a lot of transition in practice so I think that carried over to today. Sometimes we start off with drills that aren't as fast-paced but these last two practices we've been going fast pace from the jump so I think that rolled over to the game."
On her own success in tonight's game…
"My teammates give me the ball in easy places to score. It's really a blessing to play with them. I have some really good guards that can pass the ball and they relocate when I get double-teamed so it's an easy pass for me to get out of the double team so I think it's them just believing in me, that I can score and that I can get it to them out of the trap."
On their mentality against Arkansas…
"Last year we lost to them so we knew that they don't have anything to lose. We knew they were going to come out excited and fired up so we really wanted to put the hammer on them early. They play really well against us all the time so we knew we had to come out playing hard and ready to play or else it would have been a long day for us."
On getting a win following the win against Kentucky…
"It's huge. It definitely puts us in the positive direction that we need to go in. If we would have struggled it wouldn't have helped our confidence for the next game, so I really think it will help us have a good mentality coming into our next game."
On Curtyce Knox…
"Everyday she's going hard in practice. She doesn't take a play off, so when she gets to the game I feel like it's easy for her because she goes so hard in practice. She may make mistakes, but she's not going to make those mistakes in the game."
Texas A&M Sophomore Guard Danni Williams
On tonight's quality shooting performance as a team…
"I think we just got in a rhythm from the start. When you're in a rhythm it's easier to shoot. Defensively we got it going earlier and so I think that's why."
On her own performance tonight…
"I got in the gym last night and shot to relax. The defense has been different in the SEC rather than non-conference. I'm not getting open shots, so just finding ways to create."
On Curtyce Knox…
"I think she's mature. She's been through this longer than we have. She makes it easier for me. I'm sure Khaalia (Hillsman) could say the same thing. As a shooter, when the ball is in the pocket it puts your shot up that much faster and easier to get off. She's great at putting the ball in the pocket for me, knowing where I want the ball, so I give her the credit for that."
The Aggies (13-4, 3-1 SEC) led 40-28 at the half, but really opened the floodgates in the third quarter, making 10-of-11 shots for a school-record 90.9% field goal percentage in the quarter, outscoring the Razorbacks (11-6, 0-4 SEC) 28-13.
Curtyce Knox matched her career-high with 15 assists, despite sitting for the last eight minutes of the game. Knox helped the Aggies notch a season-high 26 assists on 35 made field goals.
Khaalia Hillsman led the Aggies in scoring with a career-high-tying 25 off of 11-of-13 shooting. Danni Williams chipped in 20 and Jasmine Lumpkin added 11.
The Aggies outscored the Razorbacks 46-14 in the painted area.
The Aggies return to action on Sunday, January 15 at Florida for a game televised on SEC Network at 12 p.m. CT. The next home game for Texas A&M is January 22 as the Aggies host LSU at 4 p.m.
????Gig 'Em @AggieWBB Thank you to the @AggieCorps for their support tonight at Reed Arena #12thMan pic.twitter.com/OqxOjtfluu
— Aggie Women's Hoops (@AggieWBB) January 13, 2017
QUICKIE NOTES
- Texas A&M shot 66.0%, just off the school record of 66.7%, set on Feb. 20, 1985 vs. Texas.
- The Aggies are now 13-4 overall and 3-1 in SEC play. The Razorbacks fall to 11-6 and 0-4 in SEC play.
- The 25-point margin of victory represents the Aggies' largest SEC win since Feb. 1, 2015 against Auburn (W, 78-45)
- Texas A&M is 11-0 this season when scoring 70+ points. The Aggies are 204-13 under Gary Blair when scoring 70+.
- The Aggies scored 90+ points for the fourth time this season
- The Aggies shot 90.9% (10 of 11) in the 3rd quarter, which is the school record for FG percentage in a quarter.
- Texas A&M is now 8-1 at home this season and 50-8 at Reed Arena since the start of the 2013-14 season. The Aggies are 142-5 against unranked teams at home since Feb. 2005.
- Khaalia Hillsman tied a career-high with 25 points for her sixth 20+ point game of the season
- She has scored in double figures in all 17 games this season
- She had a career-high 3 assists
- Curtyce Knox tied a career-high with 15 assists. She has nine 10+ assist games this season.
- Danni Williams scored 20+ points for the sixth time this season
- She scored in double figures for the seventh straight game and 16th time in 17 games this season
- Jasmine Lumpkin scored in double figures for the sixth time this season
- Texas A&M set a season-high with 25 assists
- Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is now 322-133 in 14 seasons at Texas A&M and 730-296 in his Hall of Fame career. He is now tied for seventh among active coaches and tied for 13th all-time in career wins.
- Blair has won 102 SEC games between his stints at Arkansas and Texas A&M, which is the most of any active SEC coach.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
Opening Statement…
"Give our defense a lot of credit. [Jessica] Jackson was our number one thing that we were trying to stop and we were trying to keep Jackson and [Malica] Monk off the foul line as much as possible. That's three straight games that everybody goes in to stop Jackson first. She's a great offensive player. Sometimes, it takes some of those other kids to step up on their behalf. I was really pleased to see Aaliyah Wilson have the type of game that she had there. I mean the kid could play out of Oklahoma. She's somebody that we wanted and everybody in the country wanted, and maybe this will push her on to start playing like she can. It's not what we shot, it's the shot selection that we had. We shared the ball, moved it around. That's why you have 26 assists and 14 turnovers. If I would've let Curtyce [Knox] finish the game, she would've had the school record probably in assists, but we needed to rest her. We've got two tough road games coming up but the effort that we had, the execution, the isolation that we were able to get with Khaalia [Hillsman]. Whether it was zone or man, to get isolation you've got to make extra passes, you've got to shift people around and she's been doing such a great job of finishing."
On Aggie players and process…
"I'm pleased. Look what Jasmine Lumpkin and Taylor Cooper did. I thought they were huge in the game and I told Danni [Williams]. I said 'Danni, if they're taking you away early, don't force a thing. Wait. Your shots will come as the game goes on and then when they started paying attention to [Khaalia] Hillsman, here comes Danni and then Curtyce [Knox] just reads who's hot. She gives them the ball."
On if the Arkansas victory is a carryover from Kentucky…
"The league is balanced. We felt great about how we played at Kentucky and that was a good Top 25 team. Tonight, I think we could have beat a lot of teams. No matter what their initials are and their names, we could have beat a lot of Top 25 teams today if we could play at this magnitude."
On A&M's game tonight…
"I think what we shot, it was pretty good. The transition baskets were unbelievable for us. That's six on fast break. We were throwing ahead, catching them flatfooted a couple of times. We hadn't seen that in a long, long time. But, I'm just going to say everything worked. You can't just say it was the offense or the defense. It was just A&M tonight."
Arkansas Head Coach Jimmy Dykes
Opening Statement…
"We just got our tails kicked, bottom line. They beat us in every area."
On game plan for Khaalia Hillsman…
"Well, it wasn't our game plan to put one in front and one in back. We were trying to help from every area. She's just a big kid. We didn't do a good job of shoving her off the block and we gave her angles and you can't do that. It's disappointing because we'd worked on it for two straight days. Our post defense wasn't great. Our ball pressure wasn't great and once they started making shots, they all made shots. They've got kids banking in threes that haven't made a three all year so things start snowballing on you."
On game performance…
"It's was not our night tonight. It was simply not our night in any area."
Texas A&M Junior Center Khaalia Hillsman
On what factored into tonight's fast start…
"Definitely practice, we've been doing a lot of transition in practice so I think that carried over to today. Sometimes we start off with drills that aren't as fast-paced but these last two practices we've been going fast pace from the jump so I think that rolled over to the game."
On her own success in tonight's game…
"My teammates give me the ball in easy places to score. It's really a blessing to play with them. I have some really good guards that can pass the ball and they relocate when I get double-teamed so it's an easy pass for me to get out of the double team so I think it's them just believing in me, that I can score and that I can get it to them out of the trap."
On their mentality against Arkansas…
"Last year we lost to them so we knew that they don't have anything to lose. We knew they were going to come out excited and fired up so we really wanted to put the hammer on them early. They play really well against us all the time so we knew we had to come out playing hard and ready to play or else it would have been a long day for us."
On getting a win following the win against Kentucky…
"It's huge. It definitely puts us in the positive direction that we need to go in. If we would have struggled it wouldn't have helped our confidence for the next game, so I really think it will help us have a good mentality coming into our next game."
On Curtyce Knox…
"Everyday she's going hard in practice. She doesn't take a play off, so when she gets to the game I feel like it's easy for her because she goes so hard in practice. She may make mistakes, but she's not going to make those mistakes in the game."
Texas A&M Sophomore Guard Danni Williams
On tonight's quality shooting performance as a team…
"I think we just got in a rhythm from the start. When you're in a rhythm it's easier to shoot. Defensively we got it going earlier and so I think that's why."
On her own performance tonight…
"I got in the gym last night and shot to relax. The defense has been different in the SEC rather than non-conference. I'm not getting open shots, so just finding ways to create."
On Curtyce Knox…
"I think she's mature. She's been through this longer than we have. She makes it easier for me. I'm sure Khaalia (Hillsman) could say the same thing. As a shooter, when the ball is in the pocket it puts your shot up that much faster and easier to get off. She's great at putting the ball in the pocket for me, knowing where I want the ball, so I give her the credit for that."
Team Stats
AR
TAMU
FG%
.414
.660
3FG%
.350
.500
FT%
.714
.833
RB
22
32
TO
14
14
STL
9
6
Game Leaders
Pts
25
FGM
11
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF/G
/ Women's BasketballG
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