Blair & Walker
UCONN
Texas A&M Women's Basketball
WBB: Aggies struggle in 81-50 loss to #2 UConn
Ten years ago, the Texas A&M women’s basketball team was among the worst in the country. Hosting storied programs like Connecticut was a mere pipedream when Gary Blair arrived at A&M from Arkansas in 2003.
But after A&M’s national championship in 2011 and seven straight NCAA tournament berths, those pipedreams have become reality.
While hosting great teams may be a sign of progress, Blair’s team proved no match for the No. 2 Huskies on Sunday afternoon. Connecticut (2-0) jumped out to an early lead and rolled to an 81-50 victory over the Aggies (0-3) in front of 7,657 fans at Reed Arena.
“Connecticut was pretty much in midseason form,” said Blair. “Our goal in this game was to cut down the layups, make them beat us with threes and mid-range shots. That didn’t happen tonight.”
Connecticut outscored the Aggies 42-12 in the paint and shot 56.1 percent from the field, compared to A&M’s 30 percent. The Huskies also dished out 27 assists.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Newcomer Courtney Walker was the only bright spot on the day for A&M. Walker tallied 20 points, the most of her young career.
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Texas A&M freshman Courtney Walker scored a career-high 20 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough for the Aggies to keep up.
Connecticut junior Stefanie Dolson, who tormented the Aggies all day in the paint, scored 20 of her 24 points in the first half and hit a basket off a pass from Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis for Huskies a 40-28 lead at the break.
“The first half was about what I thought it would be,” said Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma. “We looked really good at times. We looked a little bit shaky at times.”
In the second half, Connecticut wasn’t shaky at all.
A&M still trailed by 14 after a Kelsey Bone free throw with 16:44 remaining. Then the Huskies went on a 13-0 run over the next four minutes which ended any hope for an A&M comeback.
Connecticut’s lead grew to as much as 34 points with just over four minutes remaining.
Still, Blair was encouraged by the play of Walker, who also had seven rebounds to go with her 20 points.
“Nothing was really different for me. I did the same things I have been doing the last two games,” she said. “My shot was just falling for me. The difference between this game and the last two games was that I trusted my shot more.”
Note: The Aggies next play Liberty (2-1) on Tuesday night at Reed Arena.
But after A&M’s national championship in 2011 and seven straight NCAA tournament berths, those pipedreams have become reality.
While hosting great teams may be a sign of progress, Blair’s team proved no match for the No. 2 Huskies on Sunday afternoon. Connecticut (2-0) jumped out to an early lead and rolled to an 81-50 victory over the Aggies (0-3) in front of 7,657 fans at Reed Arena.
“Connecticut was pretty much in midseason form,” said Blair. “Our goal in this game was to cut down the layups, make them beat us with threes and mid-range shots. That didn’t happen tonight.”
Connecticut outscored the Aggies 42-12 in the paint and shot 56.1 percent from the field, compared to A&M’s 30 percent. The Huskies also dished out 27 assists.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Newcomer Courtney Walker was the only bright spot on the day for A&M. Walker tallied 20 points, the most of her young career.
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"right","Size":"large","Caption":"Newcomer Courtney Walker was the only bright spot on the day for A&M. Walker tallied 20 points, the most of her young career.","MediaItemID":24868}
Connecticut junior Stefanie Dolson, who tormented the Aggies all day in the paint, scored 20 of her 24 points in the first half and hit a basket off a pass from Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis for Huskies a 40-28 lead at the break.
“The first half was about what I thought it would be,” said Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma. “We looked really good at times. We looked a little bit shaky at times.”
In the second half, Connecticut wasn’t shaky at all.
A&M still trailed by 14 after a Kelsey Bone free throw with 16:44 remaining. Then the Huskies went on a 13-0 run over the next four minutes which ended any hope for an A&M comeback.
Connecticut’s lead grew to as much as 34 points with just over four minutes remaining.
Still, Blair was encouraged by the play of Walker, who also had seven rebounds to go with her 20 points.
“Nothing was really different for me. I did the same things I have been doing the last two games,” she said. “My shot was just falling for me. The difference between this game and the last two games was that I trusted my shot more.”
Note: The Aggies next play Liberty (2-1) on Tuesday night at Reed Arena.
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