No. 13 A&M utilized their bigs en route to a season-opening victory over Lamar
Video courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics
Basketball is back in Aggieland.
No. 13 Texas A&M opened the 2020-21 season with a 77-61 win over Lamar on Wednesday afternoon at Reed Arena. Aggie bigs Ciera Johnson and N’dea Jones each recorded a double-double to guide the Maroon & White to the victory.
Despite winning by double digits, first game woes plagued Texas A&M all afternoon.
The Aggies finished the game with 25 turnovers and only shot 3-for-17 from three-point territory.
“We did not play how we wanted to play,” Johnson said after the game. “This is our first time playing together, and we definitely came out sloppy.”
Lamar gave A&M all they could handle in the first quarter and led 20-17 after the opening 10 minutes.
Trailing 24-21 in the second quarter, Jones took matters into her own hands and went on a 10-0 run on her own to give the Aggies a 31-24 lead with 3:15 left in the half.
Texas A&M outscored the Cardinals 19-7 in the second quarter and took a 36-27 lead heading into the locker room.
Johnson only needed one half to record her double-double, finishing the first half with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Jones also had a successful first half, recording 14 points with five rebounds at intermission.
With Lamar packing in their defense in the second half, A&M was forced to start making shots from the outside.
Junior guard Destiny Pitts delivered.
After going 0-for-8 as a team in the first half, Pitts made a trio of three-pointers in the third quarter, the Aggies’ best offensive quarter of the contest.
Aggies finished well on both ends and continued to have success on the glass. A&M nearly doubled Lamar in rebounding, 55-28, and finished with a total of 18 offensive rebounds and 21 second-chance points.
“I thought rebounding was our biggest success tonight,” head coach Gary Blair said. “Our bigs, Johnson and Jones, did a great job of controlling the glass and giving our team more opportunities to score.”
The road doesn’t get easier as the Aggies will travel for their first road game against No. 19 DePaul on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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