The No. 11 Texas A&M women’s basketball team cruised to an 85-48 win over the A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders at Reed Arena in a stand-out offensive performance, led by junior guard Chennedy Carter’s 22 points and six rebounds, to advance to a 12-1 overall record.
Following a series of missed jumpers and three-point attempts from the Aggies to open the game and find themselves down early, a made jumper by Carter kick-started A&M’s offense that would hold the lead through the rest of the game and score a season-high 85 points.
A&M head coach Gary Blair said the Aggies had to do well in all areas in order to overcome an early deficit and contain the Islanders through the four quarters.
“We got out to a slow start, but we found our way by forcing a few turnovers,” Blair told 12thman.com. “I was disappointed early on because our post players were 3-for-11 in the first half. …Our post players did a much better job in the second half. There were four kids in double figures this afternoon and 11 kids played. We were efficient at the free throw line too, our kids did a good job in that regard.”
Junior guard Kayla Wells added 17 points for A&M, while junior forward N’dea Jones tallied 13 points along with 16 rebounds to mark her third double-double of the season.
Junior forward Ciera Johnson was the fourth Aggie to land in double figures while going 6-for-6 from the free throw line for a total of 16 points on the night. After the game, Johnson said there are certain things A&M was able to clean up against Corpus Christi that will help the team going into SEC play.
“We started off the game really well,” Johnson told 12thman.com. “In the second quarter we kind of slipped up a little bit. …So, we have to be a little more focused throughout the entire game or else we’re going to lose to Arkansas.”
Sunday’s matchup was the last before a trip to Fayetteville to face No. 20 Arkansas to open up SEC competition. Johnson also said A&M is going to have to be consistent on all sides of the ball in order to have success against the Razorbacks and all SEC opponents.
“Considering the way we played, it was okay,” Johnson told 12thman.com. “They’re going to get after us. …If we don’t maintain the level of play we had throughout the first quarter, then we will have a tough time against Arkansas. I think if we stay on that level of play we had through the first quarter, then we will be just fine.”
The Aggies will head for Fayatteville, Arkansas to matchup with the No. 20 Razorbacks at the Bud Walton Arena on Jan. 2 at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on SEC Network+.