A&M opens tournament run with convincing victory over Drake, 89-76
Through a quarter of play at Reed Arena on Friday afternoon, Gary Blair's squad found itself in the middle of a sharpshooting dogfight with the Missouri Valley Conference Champion Drake Bulldogs. The teams combined for 54 points through 10 minutes and both shot 50 percent or better from the field.
However, the Aggies cranked up the pressure in the second quarter and put the clamps on defensively en route to a 15-0 run in the second period, which lead to a 15-point halftime lead. A&M never trailed again, finishing the game with a convincing victory, 89-76.
A&M spread the scoring around in Friday's game, finishing the game with four different players in double figures. The star of the game, as has been the case for much of the season for the A&M women, was true freshman point guard Chennedy Carter.
Carter was not only impressive scoring points, which she did at an efficent rate, shooting 44 percent from the field and going 3-for-6 from three-point range, but also in distributing to her teammates for 11 assists and recording six steals. The 11 assist performance ranks second in program history in an NCAA Tournament game, trailing only Jordan Jones' mark of 16 during the 2014 tournament.
"She gave the easy pass to her teammate. She gave Khaalia some great passes early. She found Danni (Williams) when Danni was hot. Now she's really getting into her own thinking like a point guard, just not a scoring guard. And that's the most pleased I've been with her in a long, long time," said Blair of Carter's outing.
Carter wasn't alone, though. The veteran trio of Khaalia Hillsman, Anriel Howard and Danni Williams combined for 54 points and 18 boards. Junior forward Anriel Howard once again lived up to her nickname of "Rodman," notching her 18th double-double of the season, including some physical rebounds when A&M needed them most.
A&M returns to action on Sunday in an attempt to punch its ticket to Spokane for the Sweet Sixteen against DePaul, which took down Oklahoma earlier this afternoon at Reed Arena. Tipoff for Sunday's game is TBA. Blair is wary of the DePaul's speed and plans to alter the Ags' style of play in round two.
"I don't know if we can press DePaul. They take the ball out of the net and while our back is turned, they're laying it up down on the other end. So it will be a different game plan because DePaul is twice as quick as Drake."
As always, Blair remained adamant that the 12th Man is one of his team's greatest assets.
"Our crowd was loud today. It was good. But we're going to need even a better crowd (Sunday). Hopefully, some of the students and some of the townspeople are coming back from spring break. People, don't think the game is sold out. I need your butts in your seats."
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