Thoughts on A&M's first round victory against Albany

1. My first thought is how extremely glad I am to be covering the women's first round tournament game from the comfortable confines of Reed Arena. There was a great crowd that showed up to cheer for the Aggies and they really helped the girls out tonight. When A&M made its run in the second half, the atmosphere was comparable to any Texas or Baylor game this year. The ladies are going to need the same intensity Monday night to get them through to the Sweet 16.

2. Vic Schaefer had his girls playing tremendous defense tonight. The D was good throughout the entire game and great during stretches of the second half. Sydney Carter may rival any basketball player to ever play at A&M for the best defensive stopper. She had trouble at the offensive end of the court, but her defense and heart are unmeasurable. Carter held Albany's best player to a single field goal on ten attempts and made her turn the ball over seven times.

Gary Blair mentioned that he wanted his girls to start holding their opponents to 30 percent shooting from the field throughout the tournament and tonight they started off on the right foot by holding Albany to 31.7 percent.

There were a couple possessions where the Albany point guard dribbled at the top of the key for 25 seconds and then tried to drive to the basket at the end of the shot clock because she couldn't make an entry pass to start the offense. And when Albany was able to get into the paint, the Ags' help side defense rotated at the right time to block eight shots on the night. It was a great team effort and something the Aggies will need to continue to display all the way through the tournament.

3. Tyra White was a big piece for this A&M squad. She missed the entire conference tournament and, in her first game back, she lead the team in scoring and rebounding. Tyra is a mismatch for any player guarding her, no matter what team the Ags are playing. And she gives Coach Blair's offense a go to play-maker when the shot clock is running down.

She will be a huge factor in defending A&M's championship title.

4. A&M has struggled all year to put points on the board, but tonight Gary Blair's team shot almost 60 percent from long distance, connecting on 7-of-12 three point attempts. The Ags also shot 46 percent from the field throughout the game, making 16-of-29 shots in the second half alone.

5. Points off turnovers were big in this game. I'm not talking about A&M's points off turnovers, but rather the points it gave up when it turned the ball over. The Aggies turned the ball over 15 times, resulting in 11 points for Great Danes. If the Ags want to stay alive and advance to the next round, they are going to have to take care of the ball and not turn it over in situations that result in easy baskets for their opponents.

6. Another area of concern for the Aggies is rebounding. The Great Danes out-rebounded A&M by 15, despite the fact that they were undersized at every position. Albany was quicker to the ball and tracked down more long rebounds the entire night. It seemed like those girls wanted it more than the Ags ... and that can't be the case in the upcoming rounds if the Ags expect to stay on the winning track.

7. The one thing that has been overlooked over the course of the season: All the coaching adjustments. Albany's Coach Abrahamson-Henderson said it best in the post-game press conference when she mentioned how great of an offensive adjustment Blair made from the first half to the second to break down her zone defense.

The Aggies started the second half on a 14-2 scoring run — partly because of their stifling defense — but mainly because of their ability to play inside/out against the Albany zone and space the shooters and the high post cutters. A&M scored a few baskets in the paint to start the half, which opened the perimeter for Alexia Standish to knock down 3-point shot after 3-point shot.

Arkansas is going to be a tough matchup for the Maroon and White on Monday. The Ags are going to have to bring the intensity and fight for 40 minutes if they want to leave Reed Arena for the last time this year with a win under their belts.