An early tipoff proved to be no problem for No. 17 Texas A&M women’s basketball.
Despite the 11 a.m. start time, the Aggies took down Arkansas-Little Rock 65-50 on Wednesday, Dec. 1 at Reed Arena. Graduate guards Kayla Wells and Destiny Pitts led the way for the maroon and white, each dropping 15 points en route to the victory.
Joining Wells and Pitts on offense was senior forward Aaliyah Patty, who added 11 points while leading the team with 10 rebounds. Additionally, junior guard Jordan Nixon added seven points while leading the team in assists with four. In regard to her performance, Patty discussed the significance of rebounding during the game.
“It’s very important,” Patty said. “It gets us in the flow of things and in rhythm with the offense. I was just trying to contribute in any way possible for my team. The offense kind of came with the rebounds I got. Get a rebound, go down and score. They kind of go hand in hand.”
With the victory, A&M coach Gary Blair tied legendary coach Shelby Metcalf for most wins as an A&M basketball coach, with 438. Metcalf coached the men’s squad from 1963 to 1990. Blair has coached the Aggies since 2003 and was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
A&M rushed to a hot start in the first half, jumping to a 19-13 lead after the first quarter and a 40-19 lead at halftime after ending the half on an 8-0 run. The team shot 54.8% during the half, including 45.5% from 3-point range. The second quarter saw Pitts make three of four 3-point attempts before finishing 5-6 from beyond the arc.
The Aggies slowed down in the second half, as Little Rock shrunk the lead to bring the game within 12 points. After being outscored 18-9 in the third quarter, A&M took back control of the game to outscore the Trojans 16-13 in the fourth quarter for the 65-50 win. Nonetheless, Wells, who started her 100th-consecutive game for A&M, admitted the Aggies will look to improve upon their performance in the second half.
“Going into the second half, we kind of wanted to stretch the lead a little bit,” Wells said. “We talked about that, and we talked about ‘stop, score, stop.’ I feel like we did that in the second quarter. In the third quarter, we came out a little flat which is something we’re not used to, as our second halves have been the best, but it wasn’t the best today and we need to do better.”
Up next, the 8-0 Aggies battle longtime rival No. 14 Texas on Sunday, Dec. 5. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. at Reed Arena, and Blair has already issued a call for fans to be in attendance at Sunday’s contest.
“People need to come out and support basketball at every level now in this community,” Blair said. “There should be 10-12,000 people at the Texas game. This is a no-excuse game for the fans because this basketball team has earned it. We’ve earned it. Now it’s time to come out, and we’re going to need every one of you on Sunday.”
Editor’s Note: Junior guard Jordan Nixon is also an opinion writer for The Battalion.
