Thursday, February 9
College Station
7:00 PM
Texas A&M
18-6, 8-3
69
vs
48
Alabama
15-9, 3-8
1
2
3
4
F
Alabama
11
9
11
17
48
Texas A&M
20
14
18
17
69
Photo by: Thomas Campbell/Texas A&M Athletics
Women Pick Up Eighth Straight Home Win, Defeat Alabama 69-48
Feb 09, 2017 | Women's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION- Texas A&M's women's basketball team picked up its eighth straight home win, defeating Alabama 69-48 in the annual BTHO Breast Cancer game at Reed Arena. The Aggies are 10-1 all-time when hosting the BTHO Breast Cancer game.
The Aggies (18-6, 8-3 SEC) never trailed in the game, racing out to a 34-20 lead over Alabama (15-9, 3-8 SEC) by halftime.
Khaalia Hillsman and Danni Williams co-led the Aggies with 19 points apiece. Anriel Howard added her 12th double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Curtyce Knox led the Aggies with 12 assists, moving past Sydney Colson's 2010-11 season for third on Texas A&M's single-season list with 228.
The Aggies head to No. 24 Tennessee on Sunday, February 12 for a 1 p.m. CT tip on ESPNU. Texas A&M returns to Reed Arena on February 19 to host No. 4 Mississippi State.
QUICKIE NOTES
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair
Opening Statement…
"Tonight was a good show. A lot of players got some minutes, and I got to rest some kids. Taylor Cooper only played twenty minutes, but she had five assists and zero turnovers. The one thing with Cooper is that the ball doesn't rest in her hands. She is able to move the ball around and understand spacing and getting the easiest basket she can. I'm proud of how she's developed. Danni Williams was very hot to start the ballgame. She had a solid game when you look at her numbers. She had seven rebounds because she's starting to follow her shots. I was able to give her some minutes at the point guard position, which we are going to desperately need sometime. We rebounded pretty well until the end, and that's when it got kind of sloppy, but it's a win."
On getting to play his bench…
"It was in the plan to play a lot of kids. They've earned that time. The trouble is that all three of the freshmen were very nervous in there, and it showed. They haven't played in a while. They'll get their feet wet and they'll get there, though."
Texas A&M guard Curtyce Knox
On playing for breast cancer survivors, including her mom…
"We also met a few people before the game and I think that sparked us up a lot coming out at the beginning of the game. Just knowing what the cancer survivors are going through every night and every day, it makes us appreciate our life a little bit more. I think we just wanted to play hard for them."
On getting the team open shots…
"I think our inbound plays were great. We got a lot of slips to Anriel and Jasmine Lumpkin, they were open a lot on rebounds. They switched a lot on their defense, I noticed they seemed to be confused a lot so they got us a lot of open shots."
Texas A&M forward Anriel Howard
On finding her shots…
"I just try to get to the open spot, sprint and beat any defenders there, and my teammates were all able to find me, so kudos to them."
On the nicknames on the jerseys…
"It put some personality on the court. For Jasmine Williams they used 'Muscles' because she is really strong on the court and in the weight room so it fits her."
Alabama head coach Kristy Curry
Opening Statement…
"I want to compliment Texas A&M's crowd. It was a great representation of what it means to beat the hell out of breast cancer, as they say around here. It was a great crowd for a great cause, and I appreciate everyone for coming out to support that. I know it's touched all of us. Credit Texas A&M for what they did tonight. They did what they had to do, and we didn't respond well. They did a good job."
On Texas A&M's run at the end of the first quarter…
"At the end of the day, we need to find a way to do better, whether it's something offensively or defensively to try to prevent those things from happening. I was disappointed in the way a few of our kids responded to rebounding defensively, but it's the size of your heart and energy on the boards that's going to make a difference."
The Aggies (18-6, 8-3 SEC) never trailed in the game, racing out to a 34-20 lead over Alabama (15-9, 3-8 SEC) by halftime.
Khaalia Hillsman and Danni Williams co-led the Aggies with 19 points apiece. Anriel Howard added her 12th double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Curtyce Knox led the Aggies with 12 assists, moving past Sydney Colson's 2010-11 season for third on Texas A&M's single-season list with 228.
The Aggies head to No. 24 Tennessee on Sunday, February 12 for a 1 p.m. CT tip on ESPNU. Texas A&M returns to Reed Arena on February 19 to host No. 4 Mississippi State.
QUICKIE NOTES
- Texas A&M improves to 18-6 overall and 8-3 in the SEC. Alabama falls to 15-9 and 3-8 in the SEC.
- The Aggies have now won eight straight home games, the second longest active streak in the SEC. Texas A&M is 12-1 at home this season and 54-8 since the start of 2013-14 at home.
- Texas A&M is 146-5 against unranked teams at home since February 2005.
- Texas A&M leads the all-time series with Alabama 6-0, with all six wins coming in the SEC regular season.
- The Aggies are 10-1 all-time when hosting the BTHO Breast Cancer Game
- Khaalia Hillsman has scored in double figures in all 24 games this season
- She moved into a tie for ninth with Lisa Jordon (1985-89, 90 blocks) in career blocks.
- Danni Williams has scored in double figures in 14 straight games, and 23 of 24 games this season
- Curtyce Knox passed Sydney Colson's 2010-11 season (221 assists) for third on Texas A&M's single-season assist list. Knox has 228 assists this season.
- Knox had 10+ assists for the 11th time this season. Knox leads the nation in assists.
- Anriel Howard had her 12th double-double of the season
- She grabbed 10+ rebounds for the fifth straight game and the 18th time this season
- She had her 14th double-figure scoring game of the season
- Texas A&M has clinched at least a single-bye in the upcoming SEC Tournament. The top four seeds receive a double-bye, and the next six seeds receive a single-bye.
- Since the implementation of quarters in women's basketball, Texas A&M is 35-1 when leading after three quarters.
- Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 327-135 in 14 seasons at Texas A&M and is 735-198 in his Hall of Fame career, which ranks eighth among active coaches.
- Blair has 107 wins in SEC play, the most of any active coach.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair
Opening Statement…
"Tonight was a good show. A lot of players got some minutes, and I got to rest some kids. Taylor Cooper only played twenty minutes, but she had five assists and zero turnovers. The one thing with Cooper is that the ball doesn't rest in her hands. She is able to move the ball around and understand spacing and getting the easiest basket she can. I'm proud of how she's developed. Danni Williams was very hot to start the ballgame. She had a solid game when you look at her numbers. She had seven rebounds because she's starting to follow her shots. I was able to give her some minutes at the point guard position, which we are going to desperately need sometime. We rebounded pretty well until the end, and that's when it got kind of sloppy, but it's a win."
On getting to play his bench…
"It was in the plan to play a lot of kids. They've earned that time. The trouble is that all three of the freshmen were very nervous in there, and it showed. They haven't played in a while. They'll get their feet wet and they'll get there, though."
Texas A&M guard Curtyce Knox
On playing for breast cancer survivors, including her mom…
"We also met a few people before the game and I think that sparked us up a lot coming out at the beginning of the game. Just knowing what the cancer survivors are going through every night and every day, it makes us appreciate our life a little bit more. I think we just wanted to play hard for them."
On getting the team open shots…
"I think our inbound plays were great. We got a lot of slips to Anriel and Jasmine Lumpkin, they were open a lot on rebounds. They switched a lot on their defense, I noticed they seemed to be confused a lot so they got us a lot of open shots."
Texas A&M forward Anriel Howard
On finding her shots…
"I just try to get to the open spot, sprint and beat any defenders there, and my teammates were all able to find me, so kudos to them."
On the nicknames on the jerseys…
"It put some personality on the court. For Jasmine Williams they used 'Muscles' because she is really strong on the court and in the weight room so it fits her."
Alabama head coach Kristy Curry
Opening Statement…
"I want to compliment Texas A&M's crowd. It was a great representation of what it means to beat the hell out of breast cancer, as they say around here. It was a great crowd for a great cause, and I appreciate everyone for coming out to support that. I know it's touched all of us. Credit Texas A&M for what they did tonight. They did what they had to do, and we didn't respond well. They did a good job."
On Texas A&M's run at the end of the first quarter…
"At the end of the day, we need to find a way to do better, whether it's something offensively or defensively to try to prevent those things from happening. I was disappointed in the way a few of our kids responded to rebounding defensively, but it's the size of your heart and energy on the boards that's going to make a difference."
Team Stats
UA
TAMU
FG%
.310
.509
3FG%
.250
.375
FT%
.571
.833
RB
32
36
TO
12
13
STL
7
4
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
4
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F/G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
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