Young students gathered in Reed Arena Sunday to watch the A&M women’s basketball team take on the SMU Mustangs for Elementary School Day. A&M did not disappoint en route to a 67-55 win over SMU, despite playing their third game in just 54 hours after returning from a two-game trip in Hawaii.
Senior guards Courtney Williams and Courtney Walker led A&M (7-2) with 16 points and 15 points respectively.
The first half of the game was close, but an 8-0 run from A&M rattled the Mustangs (3-5), and a three-pointer from Walker put A&M in front 37-23 before SMU was forced to take a timeout. It was all A&M from that point forward, and the Aggies led 41-28 at the halftime break.
A&M head coach Gary Blair said he liked what he saw from the Aggies in a challenging, early morning tip-off.
“When you make this schedule, you make a senior schedule for kids that have played in NCAA tournaments who have learned how to handle adversity and respond to adversity,” Blair said. “And I think our kids played well in the first half.”
Sophomore center Khaalia Hillsman also reached double figures with 12 points.
A&M’s defense led the charge, pulling down 47 rebounds and forcing 21 Mustang turnovers. This allowed A&M to set up ample fast break opportunities, which they capitalized on with 12 fast break points.
After the game, Jordan Jones said the team is meshing well on the defensive side of the ball.
“We’re starting to find our identity now on defense,” Jones said. “We came out and executed our defensive game plan and that’s one thing we want to do, force more turnovers and get out and run because we have a lot of athletes who can score in transition.”
SMU reeled off a 10-1 run to pull within 6 points of the Aggies after trailing 52-35 in the third quarter, but A&M was able to respond and put the Mustangs away for good.
Hillsman said the Aggies had some fatigue in the third quarter that contributed to the SMU run, but they were able to come together and finish the game out for the win.
“We always get every opponents’ A-game,” Hillsman said. “[The previous road trip] has been wearing on me since we got back but the word for our game was ‘toughness’ so we had to persevere regardless because nobody wants to lose.”
The Aggies will get some well-needed rest, as they remain in the State of Texas this weekend to host DePaul at Reed Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be airing on the SEC Network.
