No. 12 Aggies Dominate Central Arkansas

Wednesday, December 4

College Station

11:00 AM

Texas A&M

6-1,0-0SEC

UCA

2-5,0-0Southland

Central Ark.

Texas A&M

Photo by: Craig Bisacre/Texas A&M Athletics

Dec 04, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats

By: Texas A&M Athletics Communications

COLLEGE STATION – In a midday clash against Central Arkansas, the No. 12 Texas A&M Aggies shut down the Sugar Bears, beating them by a score of 76-46 at Reed Arena. Junior forward Kayla Wells led the way with 19 points on Elementary School Day.

The Aggies got off to a solid start, holding Central Arkansas scoreless for the first 3:10 of the game. They led 26-12 after the first quarter, shooting 60% from the field and 50% from the three point line. The Aggies locked down on defense in the second quarter, allowing the Sugar Bears to score only nine points, as they took a 26-point lead into halftime.

The game remained lopsided throughout the second half. A&M kept up the intensity, cruising to a 30-point victory in front of a season-high 6,450 fans.

TEAM NOTES

This is the third time in four meetings that Texas A&M has beat Central Arkansas by 25-or-more points.
The Aggies were a force in the paint, outscoring Central Arkansas 38-16.
Texas A&M once again utilized its bench, as its reserves scored 23 points.
For the first time this season, the Aggies limited themselves to single-digit turnovers, only giving the ball up seven times.
Texas A&M held the lead throughout the entire game.
Texas A&M used a starting lineup of Chennedy Carter, Shambria Washington, Kayla Wells, N'dea Jones and Ciera Johnson for the seventh time this season.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Junior forward Kayla Wells led the Aggies with 19 points, 10 of which came in the first quarter, marking the fifth time in seven games this year she has scored in double digits.
Junior guard Chennedy Carter extended her double-figure scoring streak to 46 games. She also set a season high in assists with nine, tied her season high in rebounds with five and got her first block of the season.
Senior forward Cheah Rael-Whitsitt set a career high in points with six and rebounds with 14, marking the first time in her career she has pulled down double-digit rebounds.
Junior forward Ciera Johnson contributed to the win with 15 points, making it her third consecutive game scoring in double-figures.
Junior guard Aaliyah Wilson had a season high in points, scoring 13 against the Sugar Bears, marking the first time she had scored in double figures since December 6th at Houston.
Wilson also set season highs in minutes and three pointers made, converting on three from beyond the arc in 21 minutes of action.
Junior forward Anna Dreimane matched a career high in rebounds with five.
Head coach Gary Blair earned the 797^th victory of his career after topping Central Arkansas.

UP NEXT
The Aggies will host Oklahoma State for the Big 12/SEC Challenge on December 7th at Reed Arena at 7 p.m. Tickets are available here.

A&M POST GAME QUOTES:

Head Coach Gary Blair
Opening statement…
"The best player on the floor today played for the other team, and that was Taylor Sells. We have to give that kid a lot of credit for what she was able to do. I loved the pace of play that she carried this game at. They had a couple players out with injuries, so who knows what this game could have actually turned into. We have to start playing at that type of tempo that I saw from the other side. We have to be able to push the ball to the offensive end to try and get transition back into some baskets. We missed six layups in the first half and a lot of times we trying to style into a layup, instead of letting the defense come and close in. We were not able to finish on those type of contested shots. It's something we have to look at and work on to get a little bit better each day. In the first quarter, we did some nice things but still have to continue to push our defense. We have to practice better to play better. We have three tough home games coming up and we need to become a better basketball team."

On Chennedy Carter's performance…
"What she has to do is realize she did not have her best performance against Florida State. Which was a lot of us, including the head coach. I think she went into this game to be a good teammate first. She was able to give some great passes and if we were able to make the shots, she would have been able to break her career high in assists. But we missed them and she was missing the easy shots herself. Overall, I saw her come out to be a good teammate and work hard on defense with high energy. I want to give her all that credit in this ball game."

On the third quarter performance…
"We had a terrible start in the third quarter. ACU was able to outscore us and some of our shots were taken at point blank. We had a good halftime talk and made some adjustments, we just missed the shots. If we are going to miss the basket, then we have to play defense on the other end to try and get some transition. Shots are going to come and go. We are going to miss some shots, that's a given. If you look at the offensive boards, we had 18 and should have had 30. With our size and athleticism that should have been our goal."

Junior Center Ciera Johnson
On Cheah Rael-Whitsitt's performance…
"When Cheah is in there crashing she is our energizer bunny. We definitely need her out there for us. She was capable of these things last year, but I see a new-found confidence in her. She is out there producing for us."

On the atmosphere of the game…
"These elementary school kids were loud and happy to be out of class today, I bet. It was fun having them here. All of us enjoy this game, since the energy was brought today."

Senior Forward Cheah Rael-Whitsitt
On her performance the last few games…
"I wouldn't say anything is different, necessarily. I think compared to other seasons I have played, I feel more confident in myself. I am trying to help my team in any way that I can, on and off the court."