The A&M womens basketball team defeated Southern 88-48 on Friday at the A&M Classic and finished with an 84-64 victory over Marquette on Sunday afternoon.
The Aggies began the season with a 0-3 record. They suffered losses to No. 9 Louisville, No. 9 Penn State and No. 2 Connecticut. Since then, the Aggies have won their last three games by a combined 75 points.
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair said the team knew they would lose some games coming into the season, but the schedule was preparation for future success.
Im not worried about the record, Blair said. I knew we were going to lose some games no matter what because of who we played. I couldnt have pressed those first three teams. The last three its worked and hopefully thatll give us a little more confidence when we play a top-ten team again.
Junior center Kelsey Bone was named MVP for the tournament after racking up 32 points over the weekend along with two steals and 13 rebounds.
A&M got off to a close start on Sunday, against Marquette. The game was tied at 20-20 with 7:06 left in the first half when the Aggies broke away on a 26-1 run to end the half.
Sophomore guard Alexia Standish who has been recovering from knee surgery said she was finding her rhythm during the game. She shot 3-5 from the three-point range and added two free throws for a total of 11 points finishing as the second leading scorer Sunday.
Its been a long process, Standish said. Not playing for six months kind of hurt my confidence, but getting back on the court, getting back in the practice gym and shooting has helped me get my confidence back.
Blair said Standish had to play through pain and probably will have to learn to do so for the rest of the year.
On Sunday, the Aggies had 12 players score and just as many collected at least one rebound as Coach Blair got everyone playing time in both halves.
A 31-point lead was cut to less than 20, late in the second half. Senior forward Kristi Bellock said that Marquettes near-rally was due to a lack of chemistry between the A&M players that were in the game at that time and the team must play more in sync in the future.
The chemistry on the court wasnt as strong as the starting five, Bellock said. When you have multiple combinations there are going to be some holes, but we have to get better as a team so when everyone comes in there is no loss in play.
Coach Blair said the team will focus on final exams and get more scrimmage time as the semester comes to a close. A&Ms next game will be at Reed Arena Dec. 4 against Louisiana Tech.