Texas A&M established its second biggest blowout of the season against Houston 94-
55 with the help of junior guard Courtney Walker’s 17 first half points in the first of two
games played in Reed Arena Saturday.
Walker did not miss in the first half, notching her 10th double-digit game for the season.
In the first 20 minutes, she went 5-for-5 from the field and shot 7-for-7 from the free
throw line. She finished the game with 19 points.
Khaalia Hillsman, Achiri Ade, Jada Terry and Tori Scott also registered double-digit
points. Forward Ade fell one rebound short from getting a double-double.
After Houston took their first and only lead of the game at 13-12 from Marche’ Amerson
three pointer, A&M went on a 7-0 run, which included a steal and an and-one layup from
Walker.
“I thought our kids were ready to play,” Aggie head coach Gary Blair said. “I thought our
first group had to get into the flow of the game. Even though we were trading baskets, I
still feel like we were doing the right things. They just made a couple shots, and we were
shooting over 50 percent the whole ball game.”
The Aggies jumped out of the gate to a 6-0 lead, and outscored Houston 36-17 in the last
11:43. By shooting approximately 57 percent from the field, A&M went into the half
with an 18-point cushion and 48 points.
Struggles continued for the Cougars in the second half, shooting 9-for-28 as they did in
the first. Amerson was the only player for Houston with double figures with 10 points.
Meanwhile, A&M shot even better at 58.3 percent. Also, they finished the game almost
doubling Houston in rebounding 47 to 26, which led to 54 A&M points in the paints
against the Cougars 12.
“When we play Houston, Rice, Smu and Tcu, I like to play those four schools every
year,” Blair said. “It helps on their side for their RPI and it helps on our schedule getting
kids back into that area. It is very good competition, and all of the kids know each other.
That’s why we like to compete against all four of those schools, it is good for the game of
basketball.”
The Aggies will face longtime rival Texas in the SEC/Big 12 challenge at 12:30 p.m.
Dec. 21 in Little Rock, Ar.
“[The Texas game] is going to be a war,” Blair said. “Texas is playing as good as South
Carolina and Connecticut right now. They’ve got depth and post depth, and they’ve got
that swagger about them.”