Texas A&M women’s basketball opened the 2019-20 season with a 67-37 exhibition win over Oklahoma City University.
A&M juniors Ciera Johnson and Chennedy Carter both showed out, leading the team with 24 and 22 points respectively in just 26 minutes of action.
Oklahoma City managed to start the game strong, taking an early 10-5 lead in the first quarter, but the Aggies scored 11 unanswered points, including back-to-back three-pointers by Carter, to finish the first quarter strong.
A&M forced 21 turnovers in a game they dominated on the defensive end, only allowing Oklahoma City to score six points in the third quarter and eight late points in the fourth quarter with the game already out of reach.
In a much-anticipated return, junior Aaliyah Wilson stepped onto the court Friday for the first time since suffering her season-ending knee injury last December.
“It was very important, just for her to be out so long and then to sit back and just get her legs back under her,” Carter said. “This is our first game. I believe in her. We believe in her as a team. It’s going to take some time to get her feet wet.”
Wilson played only 12 minutes in the game, which A&M coach Gary Blair said was because she is not yet completely recovered from her injury.
“We’ve got to work her in,” Blair said. “She’s at about 75 to 80 percent. I’ve got to get her to 90 percent this year. [The] following year, she’ll be at 100. But right now, you can see that leg. She’s dragging; people are beating her. It’ll get there.”
Aggie forward Ciera Johnson’s 24 points were the most by any A&M player ever in an exhibition game. Carter said she was impressed by Johnson’s performance.
“Ciera, she went crazy today,” Carter said. “Just for her to be able to come and start the season off strong is a big ups to Ciera. We need her at the five. She’s really made progress. I don’t think anybody’s realized how hard our fours and fives have really been working throughout the summer… In practice she’s going up against 6’8, 6’9 guys so out here she’s finishing, making it look easy.”
Despite the lopsided final score, Blair said some key areas on offense need improvement.
“How can you win a game by 30 and shoot two out of 13 [three-pointers], 13 out of 22 [free throws], and only shoot 39 percent from the field,” Blair said. “Our defense was a lot better than our offense tonight. We’ll work on it because we’re going to play a very good team in UALR Tuesday night.”
A&M will host the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for the official 2019-20 season opener on Tuesday.