Aggies open Taylor era in dominant fashion over Corpus Christi, 69-45

Turning the page on a new era of Aggie women’s basketball. 

Texas A&M officially ushered in the Joni Taylor era on Thursday night at Reed Arena with an emphatic 69-45 rout of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. After the Islanders shaved the deficit to just six in the third quarter, the Aggies distanced themselves for good with a 31-point second half. 

“Thought our effort was there,” Taylor said. “We’ve got to be smarter in some areas. We got to get our turnover sound. We took some quick shots, but that’s going to happen when we're playing with pace and trying to figure some things out. So our defense has to be our anchor.”

Though all eyes were on Taylor, she wasn’t the only one with a successful debut. 

As Corpus Christi jumped out to a 6-3 lead to open the game, freshman guard Sydney Bowles spearheaded a 10-0 run with back-to-back triples to ignite the offense. Bowles, the 2021-22 Georgia Gatorade Player of the year, ultimately paced all scorers with 13 points in 3-of-7 shooting from deep. 

“They trust me to shoot the ball, but also knowing that if I get hot, that means that I'm bringing out the players so that I can get the ball to the inside,” Bowles said. “And that's just something that I also value. Not just me shooting the shots, but knowing that when I start hitting, I can get more touches for the paint.”

Overall, A&M’s heralded trio of newcomers — Bowles, Tineya Hylton and Janiah Barker — shined in their first action at Reed, combining for 31 points, nine steals and seven assists. Junior Sahara Jones added 11 points. McKinzie Green and Sydnee Roby registered eight points each.

Staying hot from deep, the Maroon & White extended their advantage to 12 right before halftime after Green raced down the court and banked in a floater with three seconds left.

But much like the start of the game, the Aggies fell into a lull out of the break.

Sloppy play accounted for consecutive turnovers, while the Islanders used three jumpers in less than two minutes to front a steady attack from midrange. 

Searching for a spark, Green drilled a crucial 3-pointer from the top of the key to permanently swing momentum in favor of the Aggies and jumpstart an 18-4 run that lasted the remainder of the quarter.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Barker nearly posted a double-double with eight points and eight rebounds in addition to six steals and three blocks. 

“It just reiterates that our defense has to be our anchor,” Taylor said. “And that's who we can be. We have the ability to sub in a lot of different players. We can do a lot of different things on both ends of the ball. Really pleased with some of the things we did defensively.”

A&M cruised through the final ten minutes as the lead swelled to as many as 29 points. 

In the end, the Aggies shot a respectable 45.2 percent from the field and 37.5 (6-16) from beyond the arc. Even so, Taylor hopes to see a more balanced effort, starting in the paint. 

“We do that well, but there's got to be a balance to it,” Taylor added. “Also, we've got to establish ourselves in the paint. You know, we've got really good shooters. Almost all of our guards really can shoot the basketball. But that cannot be it. We can't live and die by the three. We don't want to be that team because we also have an opportunity."

The Aggies look to build momentum as they return on Sunday to host Army. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. CT.