Sunday, November 10
College Station
3:00 PM
Texas A&M
2-0,0-0SEC
79
vs
58
Duke
1-1,0-0ACC
1
2
3
4
F
Duke
12
18
14
14
58
Texas A&M
18
15
22
24
79
No. 6 Women's Basketball Dominates the Boards in 79-58 win over Duke
Nov 10, 2019 | Women's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION – The No. 6 Texas A&M women's basketball team posted a convincing 79-57 win over Duke behind a 20-rebound advantage Sunday afternoon at Reed Arena.
The Aggies led for over 37 of the 40 minutes as they improved to 6-1 all-time against the Blue Devils. A&M's Chennedy Carter (25), Ciera Johnson (14), Kayla Wells (13) and Shambria Washington (10) finished in double-figure scoring. Johnson (12) and N'dea Jones (12) finished with double-digit rebounding while Cheah Rael-Whitsitt grabbed nine boards.
The Aggies opened the game slow from the field, but were able to corral half of their missed shots leading to a pair of second chance points and an 8-5 advantage through the first five minutes of action. A&M upped the pressure to finish the first quarter, forcing seven turnovers that led to 10 points and an 18-12 lead.
The Blue Devils carved into the deficit early in the second quarter, taking a 28-27 lead with just over four minutes until half. Johnson ended the run with a layup as the Aggies closed out the half scoring six of the last eight points to take a 33-30 advantage into the break.
Carter led all scorers at the half, with 17 points, marking her 41st consecutive game with double-digit scoring. Rael-Whitsitt evened her career-high in rebounding, seven, over the first 20 minutes of action. Through the first 20 minutes, the Aggies outrebounded the Blue Devils by 10 and tallied seven second-chance points while Duke was unable to take advantage of their five offensive rebounds.
The Maroon & White stormed out the locker room after the break, taking a then game-high 14-point advantage with 2:40 to play in the third quarter. Jones, the SEC's leading returning rebounder, controlled the boards in the third frame, pulling down five to push her into doubles figures for the 23rd time in her career.
A&M continued to stretch the lead in the fourth quarter using a 9-1 run to take a 75-52 advantage as they held Duke without a field goal for over four minutes.
TEAM NOTES
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
UP NEXT
The Aggies are off for the next six days before they travel to Houston to take on Rice on Sunday, Nov. 17 at 2 p.m. The game will air on ESPN Plus.
Head Coach Gary Blair
"Okay, basically look at the boards, my three kids went 12-12-9, and that's the difference in the ball game. I think we learned a lot by playing our fourth game in 10 days against four very good and competitive teams, and that's what it showed tonight. I'm not sure what they have, but you set your schedule by who you go and play in a scrimmage, then an exhibition game, and who your first-round game is to get ready to play a team of Duke's magnitude. Yes, we were tired at the end of the USA team, but everything was built towards this ball game. Because on paper when you say Duke and ACC and Final Four appearances, that's a measuring stick.
"I thought we played very well; we almost could have put them away in the first quarter but give them credit they hit some shots — same thing at the end of the second quarter. Our turnovers let them in the ballgame. But the unsung hero, she was just in here, was Sham (Shambria Washington). Look what she did against a six-footer -- that was 5-foot-6 guarding Gorecki (Haley Gorecki). That kid will be a very good pro. She did well; I think Jade Williams got her shots in the second half, did a pretty good job, somebody that we recruited. And I'm proud of this basketball team. Okay, we need a day off tomorrow. I just love the fight on our team. I can live with turnovers as long as we turn the page and go on to the next play. And I felt that's what we did."
Forward N'dea Jones
On the offensive rebounding success…
"I think the team has the mindset of going to get the ball so we can get a second opportunity at scoring. We just kind of have that mentality. We have the mentality in practice. We send three to the boards every time. So we just kind of know, no matter if you think it is going to go in or not, just crash the boards."
Guard Shambria Washington
On their emphasis to distribute the ball…
"It's funny that you say that, because at the beginning of every game Coach Blair has keys on what it takes to win. It's basically our goals. And one of the goals was four out of five (score) in double digits, and then it just so happened to work out that way."
The Aggies led for over 37 of the 40 minutes as they improved to 6-1 all-time against the Blue Devils. A&M's Chennedy Carter (25), Ciera Johnson (14), Kayla Wells (13) and Shambria Washington (10) finished in double-figure scoring. Johnson (12) and N'dea Jones (12) finished with double-digit rebounding while Cheah Rael-Whitsitt grabbed nine boards.
The Aggies opened the game slow from the field, but were able to corral half of their missed shots leading to a pair of second chance points and an 8-5 advantage through the first five minutes of action. A&M upped the pressure to finish the first quarter, forcing seven turnovers that led to 10 points and an 18-12 lead.
The Blue Devils carved into the deficit early in the second quarter, taking a 28-27 lead with just over four minutes until half. Johnson ended the run with a layup as the Aggies closed out the half scoring six of the last eight points to take a 33-30 advantage into the break.
Carter led all scorers at the half, with 17 points, marking her 41st consecutive game with double-digit scoring. Rael-Whitsitt evened her career-high in rebounding, seven, over the first 20 minutes of action. Through the first 20 minutes, the Aggies outrebounded the Blue Devils by 10 and tallied seven second-chance points while Duke was unable to take advantage of their five offensive rebounds.
The Maroon & White stormed out the locker room after the break, taking a then game-high 14-point advantage with 2:40 to play in the third quarter. Jones, the SEC's leading returning rebounder, controlled the boards in the third frame, pulling down five to push her into doubles figures for the 23rd time in her career.
A&M continued to stretch the lead in the fourth quarter using a 9-1 run to take a 75-52 advantage as they held Duke without a field goal for over four minutes.
Postgame Notes
TEAM NOTES
- The Aggies improved to 2-0 this season and 6-1 all-time against the Blue Devils.
- Texas A&M shot 50% from field (33-66) and nearly doubled Duke in rebounding (47-24) on the night.
- A&M took advantage of 19 offensive rebounds that led to 13 second chance points, Duke converted nine offensive boards to just four points.
- The Aggies registered 16 assists on 33 made field goals.
- Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Chennedy Carter, Shambria Washington, Kayla Wells, N'dea Jones and Ciera Johnson for the second straight game (2-0).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Junior Chennedy Carter poured in 25 points in 36 minutes of action, the NCAA's leader in career scoring average added four rebounds and three steals in the win. The 25 point effort marked the 48th time the Masfield, Texas native has scored 20 points in a game.
- Junior Ciera Johnson added her second-straight double-double to open the season, posting 14 points and 12 rebounds. Johnson posted her team-best 13th double-double in 23 minutes of action.
- Senior Shambria Washington posted a game-high nine assists on the night matching her career mark, the 12th time she has dished out five-or-more helpers at Texas A&M. Washington's nine dimes equaled Duke's team total on the night.
- Junior N'dea Jones pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, marking the 23rd time in her career she had registered double digit rebounding.
- Junior Cheah Rael-Whitsitt matched her career-high in rebounding, seven, at halftime as the Ann Arbor, Mich. native finished with nine boards in just 21 minutes on the floor. Of her nine rebounds, four were on the offensive end.
- Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair improved to 385-159 in Aggieland, the Hall of Famer improved to 793-322 in his career.
UP NEXT
The Aggies are off for the next six days before they travel to Houston to take on Rice on Sunday, Nov. 17 at 2 p.m. The game will air on ESPN Plus.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Gary Blair
"Okay, basically look at the boards, my three kids went 12-12-9, and that's the difference in the ball game. I think we learned a lot by playing our fourth game in 10 days against four very good and competitive teams, and that's what it showed tonight. I'm not sure what they have, but you set your schedule by who you go and play in a scrimmage, then an exhibition game, and who your first-round game is to get ready to play a team of Duke's magnitude. Yes, we were tired at the end of the USA team, but everything was built towards this ball game. Because on paper when you say Duke and ACC and Final Four appearances, that's a measuring stick.
"I thought we played very well; we almost could have put them away in the first quarter but give them credit they hit some shots — same thing at the end of the second quarter. Our turnovers let them in the ballgame. But the unsung hero, she was just in here, was Sham (Shambria Washington). Look what she did against a six-footer -- that was 5-foot-6 guarding Gorecki (Haley Gorecki). That kid will be a very good pro. She did well; I think Jade Williams got her shots in the second half, did a pretty good job, somebody that we recruited. And I'm proud of this basketball team. Okay, we need a day off tomorrow. I just love the fight on our team. I can live with turnovers as long as we turn the page and go on to the next play. And I felt that's what we did."
Texas A&M Players
Forward N'dea Jones
On the offensive rebounding success…
"I think the team has the mindset of going to get the ball so we can get a second opportunity at scoring. We just kind of have that mentality. We have the mentality in practice. We send three to the boards every time. So we just kind of know, no matter if you think it is going to go in or not, just crash the boards."
Guard Shambria Washington
On their emphasis to distribute the ball…
"It's funny that you say that, because at the beginning of every game Coach Blair has keys on what it takes to win. It's basically our goals. And one of the goals was four out of five (score) in double digits, and then it just so happened to work out that way."
Team Stats
Duke
TA&M
FG%
.379
.500
3FG%
.333
.353
FT%
.600
.778
RB
26
47
TO
18
22
STL
13
9
Game Leaders
Pts
25
FGM
11
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
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