Sunday, November 11
College Station
6 p.m.
Texas A&M
2-0
73
vs
53
Jacksonville
1-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville | 8 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 53 |
| Texas A&M | 19 | 8 | 18 | 28 | 73 |
Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics
No. 20 Women Move To 2-0 With 73-53 Win Over Jacksonville
Nov 11, 2018 | Women's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION- No. 20 Texas A&M got off to a torrid start for the second straight game, beating Jacksonville 73-53 in a women's basketball game Sunday at Reed Arena. Ciera Johnson and N'dea Jones each posted their first career double-double in the game.
Texas A&M (2-0) opened the game on a 15-4 run, echoing the Aggies' 13-1 run to open the season against Rice. When Jacksonville (1-1) cut the Aggies' 27-18 halftime lead to just five points early in the third quarter, Texas A&M rattled off a 12-0 run to take control of the game for good.
The Aggies are now 2-0 for the sixth straight season, and picked up their ninth consecutive win at Reed Arena.
Johnson and Jones each had career games to post their first double-doubles. Johnson had career-highs of 10 rebounds and five blocks, to go along with 11 points. Jones had career-highs of 11 points and 14 rebounds, the most rebounds of any active Texas A&M player.
Chennedy Carter led the Aggies with 22 points, her seventh straight game of at least 20 points, dating back to last season. The Preseason All-SEC selection filled her line in the boxscore with four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Kayla Wells reached double-figures in scoring for the second straight game, scoring 12 points with a career-high five assists. Aaliyah Wilson had a team-high six assists.
Kiara Meeks led the Dolphins with 22 points.
The Aggies head to White Plains, N.Y. for their next game, a neutral-site contest against No. 18 Syracuse, which tips 6 p.m. Wednesday, November 14 on ACC Network Extra. Texas A&M returns home on Friday, November 23 at 4 p.m. to host Arkansas State.
POSTGAME NOTES
Texas A&M
Chennedy Carter
N'dea Jones
Ciera Johnson
Kayla Wells
Aaliyah Wilson
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair
Opening statement…
"We really fought hard on the boards today. Jacksonville is well-coached, every year, they win 20 ballgames. Their first-year coach has got them playing within themselves very well and he is doing a very good job. I was pleased with my team, when we realized our outside game was not going well. We missed some bunnies early, and then they were hard on Ciera (Johnson) early. Eventually, we got her the ball in the second half and realized she can score off of offensive boards, even if it's a set play. This was a great matchup: 3-2 zone against us, because we're going to play Syracuse, who will play 40 minutes of zone against us. That is what their men's and women's teams are known for. We played two teams to start the season that get us ready for that top level we're going to have to play. In the second half, Kayla Wells did some nice things; we found her and started attacking. (Chennedy) Carter, the majority of the time was just solid. We have to cut the turnovers down. We have to get better."
On putting the game away in the 4th quarter…
"When we scored on a couple layups, that upped the pressure. The third quarter hurt us against Rice, and we did the same thing tonight. I wanted to up the tempo. Our offense always seems to work better when they're in front of Kelly (Bond-White) and myself. We execute a lot better. We've got to be more of a pressing team. I've got the athletes, I've got the guards coming off the bench that can really help us out. We've got to rely on defense more instead of always relying on offense. Defense in the first half was pretty good. 3rd quarter hurt us, but that's a pretty good ballclub."
On Jacksonville continuously driving into the paint…
"Coach (Bob) Starkey will talk about it. They got 36 points. Everything was off the bounce going inside. First, we have to quit giving the right hand drives. Second, we have to keep them in front of us instead of letting them get so deep. They're a talented team. They were spin-reversing on us and doing a pretty good job with their left hand. We did a great job on their best player early; held her to 0 at the half. I think she hit two threes in the second half. It's a work-in-progress. We won the ballgame, our kids are getting better, and that's all I can ask.
Texas A&M sophomore guard Chennedy Carter
On whether defense helped turn the tide…
"I think we started playing defense as a team and started playing together. They kept driving the whole night, and we had to take away the drive. We had to learn how to force them to the off hand, which is the left hand, and force them to shoot it with the left hand. Once we started doing that, we got going."
On how they felt playing against the zone…
"I don't think it's hard. It's a work-in-progress for us. We're a young team full of new players, and I think we're growing and learning each other's strengths and weaknesses. That's the biggest thing for us. It's early, so everything isn't going to be picture perfect. It's going to take time, and hopefully by conference play in the SEC we'll be ready to go."
Texas A&M sophomore forward N'dea Jones
On how they felt playing against the zone…
"I think the hardest thing about the zone was just finding open spots and just being patient. A lot of times we tried to force the pass and it wasn't there, so we had to slow it down a little bit and run our plays, do our cuts fast, and just look for the open man."
On tonight's rebounds…
"I realized a lot of my rebounds were not from the basket, but from hustle plays, getting on the floor trying to get rebounds, and diving out of bounds trying to get the rebounds. My focus tonight was just trying to crash the boards as much as I possibly can to start the break, because a lot of our points did come from transition. My main goal was just trying to find the ball. I think my rebounding did help the offense, because when the offense isn't going well you have to play defense and do other stuff so your offense can get going. At the end of the game, I had a rebound and then ran into transition, so I feel a lot of my points came from grabbing the points and running the floor."
Jacksonville head coach Darnell Haney
Opening statement…
"We knew coming in Texas A&M was a heck of a team with a couple of players that are really good. We had to almost play a perfect game in order to be able to beat them. We are always striving for the perfect game and we know that perfection is not going to be attainable at all times, but we have to strive for perfection every day. Those opportunities that we did get, we didn't take advantage of those. We went 4-for-10 on the free throw line and we aren't going to beat a top-20 team like that. We won't win in our conference if we don't take care of that stuff on the free throw line. Teams are going to foul us because we are pretty aggressive going to the basket and we can shoot the ball. We have to make sure that we take advantage of those. Another thing, is we get opportunities to get them to one shot, and boxing out, we have to make sure we do that. We have to box out, rebound and go and try to get an easy basket. I think because they rebounded so much, that hurt us in our transition. We wanted to get out and run a little more, but we had to make sure we had people in there to get it."
Texas A&M (2-0) opened the game on a 15-4 run, echoing the Aggies' 13-1 run to open the season against Rice. When Jacksonville (1-1) cut the Aggies' 27-18 halftime lead to just five points early in the third quarter, Texas A&M rattled off a 12-0 run to take control of the game for good.
The Aggies are now 2-0 for the sixth straight season, and picked up their ninth consecutive win at Reed Arena.
Johnson and Jones each had career games to post their first double-doubles. Johnson had career-highs of 10 rebounds and five blocks, to go along with 11 points. Jones had career-highs of 11 points and 14 rebounds, the most rebounds of any active Texas A&M player.
Chennedy Carter led the Aggies with 22 points, her seventh straight game of at least 20 points, dating back to last season. The Preseason All-SEC selection filled her line in the boxscore with four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Kayla Wells reached double-figures in scoring for the second straight game, scoring 12 points with a career-high five assists. Aaliyah Wilson had a team-high six assists.
Kiara Meeks led the Dolphins with 22 points.
The Aggies head to White Plains, N.Y. for their next game, a neutral-site contest against No. 18 Syracuse, which tips 6 p.m. Wednesday, November 14 on ACC Network Extra. Texas A&M returns home on Friday, November 23 at 4 p.m. to host Arkansas State.
POSTGAME NOTES
Texas A&M
- The Aggies have started 2-0 for the sixth straight season, and the 13th time in the past 14 seasons. Jacksonville falls to 1-1.
- This is the Aggies' ninth straight win at home, dating back to last season. The Aggies are 14-1 in their last 15 home games
- Texas A&M is 163-6 against unranked teams at home dating back to February 2005. The Aggies are 102-8 in non-conference home games since 2004-05
- The Aggies had two players notch double-doubles for the first time since March 16 in the NCAA First Round against Drake
- Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 359-151 in 16 seasons at Texas A&M. He is 767-314 in his Hall of Fame career, which ranks eighth among active coaches
- This is Blair's 200th home win at Texas A&M. He is 200-42 at Reed Arena since being named head coach in 2003-04.
Chennedy Carter
- Scored 20+ points for the seventh straight game, dating back to last season, and the 26th time in her career
- Has scored at least 10 points in 37 of her 38 career games
- Had at least two steals in both games this season.
N'dea Jones
- Posted her first career double-double
- Had a career-highs of 11 points and 14 rebounds
- It marked her first career game of 10+ points and her first career game of 10+ rebounds
Ciera Johnson
- Posted her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds
- Had a career-highs with 10 rebounds and five blocks
- Had double-digit points for the first time in a Texas A&M uniform and the third time in her collegiate career
- It was her first career game of 10+ rebounds
Kayla Wells
- Scored in double figures for the second straight game
- Set a career-high with five assists
Aaliyah Wilson
- Had a career-high six assists
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair
Opening statement…
"We really fought hard on the boards today. Jacksonville is well-coached, every year, they win 20 ballgames. Their first-year coach has got them playing within themselves very well and he is doing a very good job. I was pleased with my team, when we realized our outside game was not going well. We missed some bunnies early, and then they were hard on Ciera (Johnson) early. Eventually, we got her the ball in the second half and realized she can score off of offensive boards, even if it's a set play. This was a great matchup: 3-2 zone against us, because we're going to play Syracuse, who will play 40 minutes of zone against us. That is what their men's and women's teams are known for. We played two teams to start the season that get us ready for that top level we're going to have to play. In the second half, Kayla Wells did some nice things; we found her and started attacking. (Chennedy) Carter, the majority of the time was just solid. We have to cut the turnovers down. We have to get better."
On putting the game away in the 4th quarter…
"When we scored on a couple layups, that upped the pressure. The third quarter hurt us against Rice, and we did the same thing tonight. I wanted to up the tempo. Our offense always seems to work better when they're in front of Kelly (Bond-White) and myself. We execute a lot better. We've got to be more of a pressing team. I've got the athletes, I've got the guards coming off the bench that can really help us out. We've got to rely on defense more instead of always relying on offense. Defense in the first half was pretty good. 3rd quarter hurt us, but that's a pretty good ballclub."
On Jacksonville continuously driving into the paint…
"Coach (Bob) Starkey will talk about it. They got 36 points. Everything was off the bounce going inside. First, we have to quit giving the right hand drives. Second, we have to keep them in front of us instead of letting them get so deep. They're a talented team. They were spin-reversing on us and doing a pretty good job with their left hand. We did a great job on their best player early; held her to 0 at the half. I think she hit two threes in the second half. It's a work-in-progress. We won the ballgame, our kids are getting better, and that's all I can ask.
Texas A&M sophomore guard Chennedy Carter
On whether defense helped turn the tide…
"I think we started playing defense as a team and started playing together. They kept driving the whole night, and we had to take away the drive. We had to learn how to force them to the off hand, which is the left hand, and force them to shoot it with the left hand. Once we started doing that, we got going."
On how they felt playing against the zone…
"I don't think it's hard. It's a work-in-progress for us. We're a young team full of new players, and I think we're growing and learning each other's strengths and weaknesses. That's the biggest thing for us. It's early, so everything isn't going to be picture perfect. It's going to take time, and hopefully by conference play in the SEC we'll be ready to go."
Texas A&M sophomore forward N'dea Jones
On how they felt playing against the zone…
"I think the hardest thing about the zone was just finding open spots and just being patient. A lot of times we tried to force the pass and it wasn't there, so we had to slow it down a little bit and run our plays, do our cuts fast, and just look for the open man."
On tonight's rebounds…
"I realized a lot of my rebounds were not from the basket, but from hustle plays, getting on the floor trying to get rebounds, and diving out of bounds trying to get the rebounds. My focus tonight was just trying to crash the boards as much as I possibly can to start the break, because a lot of our points did come from transition. My main goal was just trying to find the ball. I think my rebounding did help the offense, because when the offense isn't going well you have to play defense and do other stuff so your offense can get going. At the end of the game, I had a rebound and then ran into transition, so I feel a lot of my points came from grabbing the points and running the floor."
Jacksonville head coach Darnell Haney
Opening statement…
"We knew coming in Texas A&M was a heck of a team with a couple of players that are really good. We had to almost play a perfect game in order to be able to beat them. We are always striving for the perfect game and we know that perfection is not going to be attainable at all times, but we have to strive for perfection every day. Those opportunities that we did get, we didn't take advantage of those. We went 4-for-10 on the free throw line and we aren't going to beat a top-20 team like that. We won't win in our conference if we don't take care of that stuff on the free throw line. Teams are going to foul us because we are pretty aggressive going to the basket and we can shoot the ball. We have to make sure that we take advantage of those. Another thing, is we get opportunities to get them to one shot, and boxing out, we have to make sure we do that. We have to box out, rebound and go and try to get an easy basket. I think because they rebounded so much, that hurt us in our transition. We wanted to get out and run a little more, but we had to make sure we had people in there to get it."
"Home of the FREE, because of the BRAVE"
— Texas A&M Women's Basketball (@AggieWBB) November 11, 2018
Tonight, we put on for something bigger than us ????#aggieATMosphere #GigEm pic.twitter.com/bW1p2fquna
Let's #BTHOjacksonville ??
— Texas A&M Women's Basketball (@AggieWBB) November 11, 2018
Aggie Starting Five presented by @WellsFargo.@ChennedyCarter, @aaliwilson2, @kaylawells101, @NdeaJones, @_CieraJ #aggieATMosphere #GigEm pic.twitter.com/Dv9ybyyMDJ
Nine is nice. 9?@ChennedyCarter off to a fast start with 9 PTS in the 1st quarter of play. Aggies lead 19-8.
— Texas A&M Women's Basketball (@AggieWBB) November 12, 2018
Watch live here: https://t.co/6Qytmbkxg2#aggieATMosphere #GigEm pic.twitter.com/UbaYea8BJH
Halfway there.
— Texas A&M Women's Basketball (@AggieWBB) November 12, 2018
After 20 minutes of play, @AggieWBB lead Jacksonville 27-18.@ChennedyCarter and @_CieraJ pacing the Ags with 9 and 7 PTS, respectively.@CCCreationsUSA // #GigEm pic.twitter.com/fKTSLxj3lV
She got game ??@aaliwilson2 was heating up in the 3rd Quarter. She has 8 PTS and 5 dimes heading into the 4th. Ags lead 45-33
— Texas A&M Women's Basketball (@AggieWBB) November 12, 2018
Watch live here: https://t.co/6Qytmbkxg2 #aggieATMosphere #GigEm pic.twitter.com/ukzFldjTKa
Sunday Special ??
— Texas A&M Women's Basketball (@AggieWBB) November 12, 2018
Aggies stay unbeaten with a 73-53 win over Jacksonville University.@_CieraJ and @NdeaJones both put up double-doubles.@ChennedyCarter chips in 22 PTS of her own.@CCCreationsUSA // #GigEm pic.twitter.com/BnAt9GMLpk
???
— Texas A&M Women's Basketball (@AggieWBB) November 12, 2018
Postgame thoughts from @_CieraJ, @NdeaJones, and @CoachGaryBlair.#aggieATMosphere #GigEm pic.twitter.com/wyFSmUqF6U
Team Stats
JU
TAMU
FG%
.377
.431
3FG%
.250
.214
FT%
.400
.609
RB
34
48
TO
17
13
STL
5
7
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
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