Thoughts on Women's basketball vs Mississippi St.

Gary Blair and his basketball team had their first ever meeting with Mississippi State last night and if this was the preview to the competition in the new conference, the SEC better get ready. After Mississippi State knocked down two free throws, the Aggies went on a 17-0 scoring spree. A&M's defense stunned the Lady Bulldogs as they missed their first 12 shot attempts and didn't connect on a field goal until 11 minutes had run off the clock in the first half. In fact, the Lady Ags held their opponent to a total of five field goals in the first period and went into the locker room at the half with a 43-21 lead.

The second half was more of the same as the Ags went on a 14-0 run early in the second period to extend their lead to 65-26. Mississippi State shot a mere 25% from the field and only made one out of their 14 three point attempts. Not only did the Ags dominant on defense but they control the battle of the boards, bringing down 53 rebounds compared to the Bulldogs 27.

The 93-47 victory over next year's conference opponent gave Gary Blair his 600th win of his career. Blair's overall record is 600-242 with 192 of those wins coming as Texas A&M's head coach. After the game, Coach Blair was presented with a framed game jersey with the number 600 on it. Congratulations to Gary Blair and his team as they move forward towards another National Championship.

Thoughts on the game:

- Kelsey Bone has taken steps in every game this year. After sitting out all of last season and then getting thrown directly into the fire this year, Bone is showing signs of why she was considered the best player in the country her senior year coming out of high school. Against Mississippi State, Kelsey recorded her career high as an Aggie in points and rebounds with 20 and 13, respectively. She has really become a dominant presence in the paint on the offensive and defensive ends of the court. On defense, she changes shots and rarely allows her opponent to back her down or get around her, as she walls them off from the basket and makes them shoot a tough shot over her extended hands. On offense, I love how she can play with her back to the basket or face up and put the ball on the floor. It is scary to think how good she can be if she continues to be coached and keeps improving at this rate!

- I have to give a shout out to Skylar Collins as she has started to make some noise on the court. In a span of about four minutes in the first half, Skylar scored six points, was credited for a steal (but she should have received two), and forced the Mississippi State ball handler into another two turnovers. Skylar has really come into her own and has forced Coach Blair to give her playing time. Last night, Skylar played nine minutes and scored six points, grabbed four rebounds and added a block and a steal. Sydney Carter described her as one of the hardest working players on the team and it has showed in Collins' improvement. If Skylar can continue to give the Aggies valuable minutes off the bench for a period of two to three minutes at a time, it will allow Gary Blair and his team to produce more efficiently and at a higher rate throughout the season.

- One of the more under the radar players for Gary Blair is Karla Gilbert. She is having a tremendous season and her conditioning and mobility has greatly improved from last year to this year. She has really good hands and takes advantage of her time on the court. In 16 minutes of play last night, Karla had 12 points, seven rebounds, including five offensive, and shot 100% from the floor and the free throw line.

- Guard play is something I talk about on a nightly basis. The biggest unknown factor coming into the season was whether or not the point guards were going to step up and take control of this team and who would be the one to do it. I think Pratcher has responded phenomenal to the challenge and really taken her game to the next level. This has been evident by her stat line in every game this year. With every start, she is gaining more and more confidence in not only herself, but her teammates as well. Adrienne scored 11 points, had five assists (one turnover), two steals and two rebounds last night. The other point guard that is emerging is Alexia Standish. She may not have the most consistent stat line, but that is normal for a freshman who is still learning on the fly. The one thing I can say about Lexi is that she is one of the most physical players on this A&M team. In fact, she may be a little too physical at times on defense as she uses her hands a lot (that will change when she learns angles and adjusts to the speed of the game at the college level). Lexi's confidence is extremely high which is what you need to be a point guard at this level and once she learns to control the pace of the game and not let the defense speed up her dribble, she will be very tough to guard. Every minute she logs, she learns something new and continues to grow.

- It was an overall dominating performance by the Lady Ags and I'll give you a few examples to prove my point:

Points in the paint - A&M 64, MSU 16
Points off turnovers - A&M 28, MSU 11
Second chance points - A&M 21, MSU 12
Fast Break points - A&M 22, MSU 6
Bench points - A&M 36, MSU 14

That stat line speaks for itself, but I would like to extend another congratulations to Gary Blair for his accomplishment in reaching his 600th victory last night. Good work coach!