TEXAS A&M WOMEN S BASKETBALL GAME 18 | VS LSU THURSDAY, FEB. 4, 2021 TIPOFF: 8 PM | SITE: REED ARENA, BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS 2011 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS /// TWITTER: @AGGIEWBB /// INSTAGRAM: @AGGIEWBB /// FACEBOOK: AGGIEWOMENSHOOPS /// #GIGEM Athletics Communications: Brandon Collins | [email protected] | Cell: (832-465-3791) 2020-21 SCHEDULE & RESULTS LSU TEXAS A&M 16-1 Overall, 7-1 SEC DATE A&M RK. OPP. RK. OPPONENT TV TIME/RESULT TIGERS AGGIES Nov. 25 13 - Lamar SECN+ W, 77-61 Nov. 28 13 19 at Depaul SECN+ W, 93-91 TEAM RECORD: 8-7 TEAM RECORD: 16-1 Dec. 2 12 - Lamar SECN+ W, 80-63 CONFERENCE RECORD: 6-3 (SEC) CONFERENCE RECORD: 7-1 (SEC) Big 12 / SEC Challenge, Reed Arena, College Station, Texas Dec. 6 12 25 at Texas ESPN W, 66-61 RANKING: N/A RANKING: No. 7 AP/ No. 7 Coaches HEAD COACH: Nikki Fargas HEAD COACH: Gary Blair Dec. 10 10 - at Little Rock ESPN+ W, 79-56 Dec. 13 10 - Abilene Christian SECN W, 77-59 Dec. 15 10 - Sam Houston State SECN+ W, 99-69 Dec. 20 10 - Rice SECN+ W, 57-53 ABOUT THE MATCHUP Dec. 28 9 - Northwestern State SECN+ W, 112-26 • LSU leads the all-time series 16-14, but the Aggies hold a 10-9 edge over the Tigers since Dec. 31 9 RV Tennessee ESPNU Postponed joining the SEC. Jan. 3 9 - at Florida SECN W, 92-67 • The Aggies look to avenge their lone loss of the season. A&M dropped the previous Jan. 7 8 10 Kentucky SECN W, 77-60 meeting on Jan. 14, 61-65 in overtime. Jan. 10 8 13 at Arkansas SECN W, 74-73 Jan. 14 7 - at LSU SECN+ L, 61-65 • A&M head coach Gary Blair holds a 21-23 record against the Tigers throughout his career, and has a 10-9 record against Nikki Fargas. Jan. 17 7 14 Mississippi State ESPN2 W, 69-41 Jan. 24 8 - at Missouri SECN W, 70-66 Jan. 28 8 - at Auburn SECN W, 84-69 QUICK HITS Jan. 31 8 22 Georgia SECN W, 60-48 • A&M matches its best start through the first 17 games of the year in program history Feb. 4 7 - LSU SECN 8 p.m. Feb. 7 7 18 Tennessee SECN 2 p.m. with the 2010-11 campaign at 16-1. • The Aggies are tied for the most wins (16) and ranked victories (six) in the country. Feb. 11 - - at Vanderbilt SECN+ 7 p.m. Feb. 14 - - Arkansas ESPN2 2 p.m. • Texas A&M’s Ciera Johnson, N’dea Jones and Kayla Wells have started 81-consecutive games. Feb. 18 - - Missouri SECN+ 7 p.m. • Destiny Pitts (Ann Meyers Drysdale Award), Kayla Wells (Cheryl Miller Award) and N’dea Jones Feb. 21 - - at Ole Miss SECN 3 p.m. Feb. 25 - - at Alabama SECN+ 6 p.m. (Katrina McClain Award) were all named to Hoops Hall of Fame Starting Five watch lists. Feb. 28 - - South Carolina ESPN2 1 p.m. • Jones was named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watchlist. • Jones was named the SEC Co-Player of the Week after the first week of college basketball. SEC Tournament, Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, S.C. Mar. 3-7 SEC Tournament • Jones poured in a career-high 25 points in the season opener versus Lamar. • Jones has recorded a double-double in 12 games this season, which is tied for the most in the NCAA Tournament country. Mar. 19-22 NCAA First and Second Rounds Mar. 26-29 NCAA Regionals • Jones was named to the Wooden Award Mid season Top 25 Watch List. Apr. 2-4 NCAA Women’s Final Four • Aaliyah Wilson is avergaing 13.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals this season. • Wilson was named the SEC Co-Player of the Week after wins against No. 10 Kentucky and No. 13 Arkansas. • Wells received All-SEC Second Team preseason honors for the second time in her career. • Jordan Nixon posted a career-high 19 points against Kentucky, scoring the teams first 11 points of the game. • Pitts leads the Aggies with 34 made threes on a .453 shooting percentage. • The Aggies went undefeated in non-conference play for the first time in program history after defeating Northwestern State, 112-26. HOW TO FOLLOW WATCH: SECN PROJECTED STARTERS (Courtney Lyle/PxP, Carolyn Peck/Analyst) NO. NAME POS. HT. CL. PTS STAT HOMETOWN RADIO: Local: The Zone 1150 AM/93.7 FM 2 Aaliyah Wilson G 5-11 Sr. 13.4 5.4 rpg Muskogee, Okla. (Tom Turbiville/PxP, Tap Bentz/Analyst) 5 Jordan Nixon G 5-8 So. 8.6 3.2 apg New York, N.Y. 11 Kayla Wells G 6-0 Sr. 10.4 2.1 rpg Dallas, Texas 31 N’dea Jones F 6-2 Sr. 13.7 10.8 rpg Lawrenceville, Ga. 40 Ciera Johnson C 6-4 Sr. 11.6 8.0 rpg Duncanville, Texas 2020-21 TEXAS A&M WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES 2020-21 QUICK FACTS THE BIGGER THEY ARE WELLS FROM DEEP GENERAL • The Aggies have faced off against two of the • Kayla Wells is a superb shooter from deep. country’s best players in Texas’ Charli Collier She currently sits first all-time at A&M in field School Texas A&M University and Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard. goal percentage behind the arc (.373) Location Bryan-College Station, Texas 77842 • In the fourth quarter of their respective • She is 11th all-time in threes made and was Enrollment 71,109 (Fall 2020) games, the All-American and the perennial named to the Preseason All-SEC Second Founded 1872 (opened 1876) No. 1 pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft combined Team by the SEC coaches. Nickname Aggies for three points, going 1-of-3 from the field. ROAD DOMINANCE Colors Maroon (Pantone 505) and White • The Aggies have three road victories against Conference Southeastern Conference CHASING THE BOARDS AP top-25 teams (Arkansas, DePaul, Texas). National Affiliation NCAA Division I • Senior forward N’dea Jones is second on A&M’s all-time rebound list. President (Interim) John Junkins PITTS THE SHARPSHOOTER Athletics Director Ross Bjork RK. PLAYER YEARS REBOUNDS • Destiny Pitts leads the team with 34 made Facility Representative Paul J. Batista 1. Anriel Howard 2015-18 1,002 threes, and has scored 77.9% of her points Ticket Office www.12thmanfoundation.com 2. N’dea Jones 2017-pres. 951 this season from behind the arc. (888-99-AGGIE) CRASHING THE GLASS • She amassed over 1,200 points and drilled COACHING/SUPPORT STAFF 216 threes. Pitts was the 2017-18 Big Ten • N’dea Jones posted the second and fifth-most Freshman of the Year and earned numerous Head Coach Gary Blair (Texas Tech ‘72) rebounds in a single season at A&M. other Big Ten honors. Overall Record: 829-331 (36 years) RK. PLAYER YEARS REBOUNDS LONGEVITY AT THE TOP Record at Texas A&M: 421-168 (18 years) 1. Anriel Howard 2017-18 439 Assoc. Head Coach Kelly Bond-White (Illinois ‘98) • The Texas A&M coaching staff is entering its 2. N’dea Jones 2018-19 384 ninth season as a unit. This includes head Assistant Coach Bob Starkey 3. Peggy Pope 1978-79 360 coach Gary Blair, associate head coach Assistant Coach Amy Wright (Arkansas ‘02) 4. Anriel Howard 2016-17 354 Kelly Bond-White and assistant coaches Bob Dir. of Operations Erich Birch (Texas A&M ‘02) Starkey and Amy Wright. 5. N’dea Jones 2019-20 351 Administrative Assistant Claudia Walker • This is the longest tenured coaching staff in WBB Office Phone (979) 862-3218 DOUBLING UP the entire SEC. FACILITY • N’dea Jones became A&M’s all-time leader in AGGIE GRADS double-doubles, recording her 34th at Arkansas Home Court Reed Arena (12,989) and now sitting at 38 total for her career. • Seniors Ciera Johnson, N’dea Jones, Aaliyah All-Time Record in Reed 269-85 (22 Years) Wilson, Kayla Wells and Anna Dreimane all • Ciera Johnson is third in A&M history with 21 Reed Arena Press Row Phone (979) 862-6944 earned their bachelor’s degrees and are career double-doubles. currently pursuing their master’s. LAST SEASON WILSON IS SHOWING OUT NEWCOMERS JOIN THE AGGIES Overall Record: 22-8 • Aaliyah Wilson is breaking out this season. She • A&M welcomed eight newcomers to the Home: 14-2 leads the team in steals (31) and blocks (15). squad this season. Away: 6-4 • Wilson leads the team with a 13.4 scoring • Kay Kay Green, Maliyah Johnson, Sahara Jones Neutral: 3-2 average, and is shooting .453 from the field. and Kenyal Perry are the A&M freshmen. SEC Record: 10-6 (Home: 6-2, Away: 4-4) • She earned SEC Co-Player of the Week honors • Ella Tofaeono, Zaay Green, Destiny Pitts and SEC Regular Season Finish: T-3rd after dropping a career-best 27 points against Alexis Morris transferred into the program. SEC Tournament: Quarterfinals her former team the Arkansas Razorbacks. Final Ranking: #18 AP / #21 Coaches THE B.L.U.E.PRINT 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY • Texas A&M celebrates the 10th anniversary of HISTORY • Ciera Johnson is a founding member and its 2011 National Championship this season. First Year of Women’s Basketball 1973-74 vice president of The b.l.u.e.print at Texas A&M. Overall All-Time Record 847-598 (47 years) 800 WIN CLUB • It stands for Black Leaders who Undertake NCAA Tournament Appearances/last 16/2019 • Head coach Gary Blair earned the 800th Excellence - it is a student-athlete led Overall NCAA Tournament Record 27-15 victory of his head coaching career with a organization that helps provide leadership big, 72-43 win over Houston at Reed Arena NCAA Championships 1 (2011) opportunities and a sense of community on Sunday, Dec.