BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP)--N’dea Jones had 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 8 Texas A&M to a 60-48 victory over No. 22 Georgia on Sunday.
The Aggies (16-1, 7-1 in SEC) added 13 points from Kayla Wells and 12 from Ciera Johnson to complement Jones’ 12th double-double of the season.
Gabby Connally had 18 points for Georgia (13-4, 5-4) and Que Morrison added 12.
A&M leaned on defense to build a 57-44 lead as Georgia missed 11-of-12 field goals. Turnovers told the tale as the Aggies scored 21 points off 18 Lady Bulldogs turnovers. The Aggies had the same number of turnovers, but Georgia scored only three points of them.
Texas A&M took control of the game in the third quarter with an 8-0 run for a 39-30 lead capped by a Jones’ jumper. Wells added a layup in the spurt with Jones scoring two layups.
The Aggies scored the last five points of the first half for a 22-22 tie as Johnson had a three-point play and added another free throw as did Aaliyah Wilson. Georgia took its biggest lead of the half on back to back 3-pointers by Morrison and Connally to make it 20-15 with 3:14 left.
POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
· No. 8 Texas A&M improves to 16-1 with a 7-1 record in Southeastern Conference games.
· No. 22 Georgia drops to 13-4 with a 5-4 mark in SEC play.
· In the series between the Aggies and Lady Bulldogs, the Maroon & White improve to 9-3 and hold a 4-1 lead inside Reed Arena.
· A&M rises to 2-4 in games against the No. 22 ranked team in the Associated Press women’s basketball poll, with the only other win coming against Oregon in the 1991-92 season.
TEAM NOTES
· After beginning the game 3-of-15 from the field in the first quarter, the Aggies shot 54.1% the rest of the way.
· Texas A&M went on a 5-0 run to close the first half, tying the game at 22-22.
· A&M and Georgia exchanged blows through the first three minutes of the third quarter, but an 11-2 run starting at the 6:29 mark of the period saw A&M pull away, 42-32.
· Texas A&M is tied for first place in ranked wins this season, boasting an unblemished 6-0 record against teams in the Associated Press Top 25.
· The Maroon & White enjoyed a lead of 10-or-more for the 15th time this season.
· The scoring battle down low favored the Aggies, with A&M outscoring the Lady Bulldogs 34-12 in the paint. The 22-point differential was A&M’s second highest margin since the start of SEC play.
· The defensive effort from A&M held Georgia to 31.1% shooting with a 29.4% mark from three, while the Aggies shot 44.2% from the field.
· The Aggies outscored the Lady Bulldogs 21-3 in points off turnovers.
· Texas A&M started the game with a lineup of Aaliyah Wilson, Jordan Nixon, Kayla Wells, N’dea Jones and Ciera Johnson for the 17th-consecutive game.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
· N’dea Jones earned her trademark double-double against Georgia, hauling in 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds to record her 12th double-double of the season and 38th of her career.
· The senior forward put up double digits in scoring for the 13th time this season and 42nd time in her career.
· Jones hauled in double-digit rebounds for the 12th time this season and 59th time in her career. She currently holds the No. 2 position on Texas A&M’s all-time rebounding list with 951 boards, only 51 shy of the Aggies’ program record currently held by Anriel Howard.
· The Lawrenceville, Georgia, was the only Aggie to play all 40 minutes of the game.
· Ciera Johnson finished with 12 points and six rebounds, recording double digits in scoring for the 14th time this season and 62nd time in her career.
· On the defensive end, the Duncanville, Texas, native single-handedly put Georgia’s leading scorer, Jenna Staiti, in foul trouble. Johnson drew seven fouls in the game and saw Staiti foul out.
· Kayla Wells finished with 13 points, going 6-of-11 from the field.
· Wells scored in double figures for the seventh time this season and 57th of her career.
· Aaliyah Wilson saw 30 minutes of game time and finished with nine points, four rebounds and a game-high three assists.
· Head Coach Gary Blair improves his all-time record to 830-331 overall with a 421-168 record since joining the Aggies in 2003-04.
2011 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 10TH ANNIVERSARY NOTES
· At halftime of Sunday afternoon’s game, Texas A&M honored members of the 2011 NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship team, recognizing the team’s 10th anniversary.
· 11 of the squad’s 15 members returned to Reed Arena as a part of the celebration, including key starters Sydney Carter, Sydney Colson and Tyra White.
· 2011 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player, Danielle Adams, viewed the festivities via zoom from her home in Israel during her professional season overseas.
· A&M also celebrated the Athletics and University administrators that made the 2011 championship run possible.
UP NEXT
The No. 8 Aggies remain at Reed Arena this week, as the Maroon & White play host to the LSU Tigers in the second matchup between the two programs this season. Tip is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4 with live broadcast of the game airing on SEC Network.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Gary Blair
Opening Statement…
“I kept trying to be positive in the first half when we were getting great shots, but some days the shots don’t fall. That being said, when your offensive struggles do not carry over to the defensive end, you know it’s going to be ok. After shooting how we did in the first half and coming away tied at the break, I felt a whole lot better. We didn’t need to make any 3-pointers to win this game, because our defense played that well. Our team also does an excellent job of taking timely charges over the course of the game. I think we drew three or four offensive fouls, and each one of them was necessary to alter the ebb and flow of the game. Our faster pace on offense and good defense in the second half allowed us to pull away when we needed to.”
On the message at halftime to alter the flow of the game…
“I think sometimes we get frustrated when we miss a lot of shots, we weren’t rebounding on the offensive side, and we missed a wide-open transition opportunities. The message at halftime was that we needed to start scoring with contact. We’re not doing it like we need to. When we’re getting to the free-throw line, we can shoot with anybody, but we have to be able to get the and-one play. I want the basket; I don’t care about the free throw. The free throw is icing.”
On what the 2011 National Championship Celebration meant for the team…
“I appreciate our fans. Today we saw the largest attendance of the season. I thought they carried us. They wanted to honor the past, but they also wanted to enjoy what we’re doing in the present. I think that you had a lot of different types of fans in the stands today, some of which probably wanted to see us scrimmage the 2011 team, and believe me, I wouldn’t want to scrimmage against them. I was talking to [former Aggie Center] Danielle Adams just as I came off the floor. She was on Zoom in Israel, and she told me that she watched every bit of our game today. That’s how much love Aggies have for each other. They are watching us from all around the world right now, and they are proud Aggies. I want our team to realize how important it is and what an honor it is to wear the Maroon & White. That’s why we play so doggone hard. I think we gave our former Aggies a chance to see how hard we can play.”
Senior center Ciera Johnson
On only allowing 12 points in the paint...
“That was one of our goals. We knew that they wanted to get the ball inside. A lot came from [Jenna] Staiti being in foul trouble as well, so they didn’t really have their go to post presence in the paint. We did give up a few threes, but overall, taking away the paint was one of our goals today.”
On the presence of the 2011 National Championship team being there today…
“It added a sense of pride, like okay guys we need to go out here and play hard. We would be doing them a disservice if we didn’t come out here and play hard. I don’t think if we walked away from this game, even if we did win and didn’t play hard, I don’t think we could walk away happy in front of them. They have done so much for this program.”
Senior forward N’dea Jones
On what changed in the second to half…
“I just think our shots started falling more. In the first half it was kind of hard. I credit UGA [Georgia], because their defense is really good. I think it was us just trying to knock down our shots and we really looked to attack a lot more, especially to get them in foul trouble. That is what works for us and we are pretty good at the free-throw line. Our mentality was to really attack.”
On earning another ranked win…
“This one is pretty good; it sets the tone for the rest of the games. You always want to win at home, it’s really hard to win on the road in the SEC. We really needed to win this game.”
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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