Six score in double figures as Texas A&M dominates TSU, 85-60

The following is a release from Texas A&M Athletics:

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – A career best night in the interior by Lauren Ware powered Texas A&M women’s basketball in Monday’s 85-60 victory over the Texas Southern Tigers inside Reed Arena.
 
In 20 minutes on the court, Ware recorded career highs with 18 rebounds and seven blocked shots. She added 12 points for her second double-double of the season and the 14th of her career. Ware’s block tally tied for the third most in a game in Texas A&M history – three shy of the program record.
 
The Aggies owned a .525-.353 margin in field goal percentage, hitting 32-of-61 while holding the Tigers to 24-of-68. The Maroon & White also dominated on the boards with a 46-30 rebounding edge, including 33-16 on the defensive glass.
 
Texas A&M (6-5) had six players with double-digits in the points column for the first time in the 2024-25 campaign. Solé Williams paced the squad with a season-high 17 points on 6-of-9 (66.7%) shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Aicha Coulibaly and Amirah Abdur-Rahim added 13 and 12, respectively. Sahara Jones and Jada Malone chipped in with 11 apiece.
 
The Maroon & White led 10-4 after four minutes of play, but Texas Southern (1-8) responded with a 13-5 run to take its lone lead of the game at the 2:47 mark. With the Aggies struggling to break away from the Tigers in the first quarter, Malone scored seven points in the final 2:24 to put the home team up 24-19 at the break.
 
The Aggies logged the first eight points of the second quarter to inflate their cushion to 32-19. Abdur-Rahim made three layups in a span of 43 seconds, forcing a Texas Southern timeout at the midway point of the period with the A&M advantage ballooning to 39-21. The teams battled on an even keel for the remainder of the quarter and the Maroon & White led 45-29 at halftime.
 
Coulibaly powered the Aggies through the third quarter with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, including a 3-pointer. Her layup at the 4:03 mark gave Texas A&M its largest margin of the period, 63-41, and the Aggies carried a 68-49 advantage into the final break.
 
Texas A&M put the game away on the defensive end in the fourth quarter, holding TSU to one field goal in the first eight minutes of the period.
 
The Aggies return to the court Thursday, Dec. 19 against Mississippi Valley State at 1 p.m. The game is the program’s “Fan Appreciation” game, which is free admission for all.
 
POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- The Aggies are now 12-3 against Texas Southern all-time.
- Joni Taylor's career record moves to 174-112 all-time and to 33-37 in her three seasons with the Aggies.

TEAM NOTES
- The Aggies scored 45 points in the first half, one point shy of their season high against Western Michigan (Nov. 10).
- Scored the second-most points in a game this season, pouring in 85 against the Tigers.
- The Aggies held the Tigers to 35.3% from the field, marking the seventh team that the Maroon & White has held below 40% this season. Texas A&M is 6-1 in those games.
- The Maroon & White had six players in double figures for points for the first time this season.
- The Aggies shot over 50% from the field for the fourth time this year. The team is 3-1 in those outings.
- Texas A&M swatted 11 shots, marking the first double-digit block game for the program this year and the first time since Feb. 11, 2024, at Kentucky.
- Texas A&M began with a starting lineup of Lauren Ware, Solè Williams, Janae Kent, Sahara Jones and Aicha Coulibaly (5-3).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Lauren Ware
- Ware registered a career-best seven blocks, tying for the third most in a game in Texas A&M history. The Bismarck, North Dakota, native was the first Aggie to swat seven-or-more shots since Karla Gilbert (8) accomplished the feat on Jan. 2, 2014, versus UTEP.
- Ware's 18 rebounds tied for the 13th most in program history and was a new career high for the redshirt senior.
- Ware registered the second double-double of her 2024-25 campaign and 14th of her career.
Solè Williams
- Set new season highs of 17 points and three steals.
- Matched her season high in rebounds (3).
Amirah Abdur-Rahim
- Registered two blocks, breaking her season high.
Janae Kent
- Recorded a season best two steals.
 
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Joni Taylor
On how the team took charge in the second quarter to extend the lead...
“I think we just settled in. It had been a while since we last played. Looking at the first six trips leading into the media [timeout], we had wide open looks at the basket and wide open layups and we would just rim them out and miss. I loved our pace, but we just weren’t converting on those possessions. I think we just sat down and guarded them, got to the free throw line and continued to get out and run when we could.”

On Lauren Ware’s career performance...
“She just looked really aggressive on both ends of the floor. We needed her to protect the paint tonight and she did. She rebounded the ball really well. Coming into this game, Texas Southern was the number two offensive rebounding team in the entire country, so that was a huge concern for us. We still gave them 14 chances at offensive rebounds, but Lauren just came out there with a mindset of owning the glass, and I thought she did a really good job of putting herself in a position to get some easy baskets and to score when we needed to.”
 
Sophomore Solè Williams
On the mindset that led her to a season-high 17 points...
“I just went into the game with nothing to lose and made sure I was feeding everyone else before I feed myself. I have kept in good spirits and stayed confident throughout this whole journey. It has been up and down with me [this season], so staying calm has really helped a lot.”

Redshirt Senior Lauren Ware
On recording career highs in blocks and rebounds...
“We knew coming into this game that [Texas Southern] is one of the top recruiting teams in the country. We knew rebounding was going to be a big focus for us in order to win this game, so I think all of us made an effort to crash the boards offensively and box them out. I think we executed that part of the game plan well... Going into games I need to focus on just being aggressive and doing my job, and the rest will fall into place. Tonight, I was aggressive, I played my game, and it worked out for me.”