Aggies Coach Gary Blair Sets Wins Record As A&M Beats TSU
Texas A&M women's basketball coach Gary Blair recorded his 439th win for the Aggies, a program record, passing Shelby Metcalf's mark of 438. Blair is now third among active coaches and 12th overall in Division I with 847 wins.
"I felt like back in the day when they had Shelby (Metcalf) and Nolan Richardson and some of the great coaches in the Southwest Conference here," Blair said, "It wasn't all about X's and O's. It was about their personalities coming forward and Shelby had some of the most classic lines you've ever heard in your life. You need to realize who Shelby Metcalf was. He was a special guy, and his stories are legendary. I'm proud because it's here at A&M and I got it done in the first third of my 19th year and I'm proud of that."
Blair announced back in October that this would be his last season to coach.
No. 18 A&M's Kayla Wells, who has scored double-digit points in every game this season, led the team with her season-high 25 points as the Aggies beat Texas Southern 88-43 on Thursday night at Reed Arena in College Station to improve to 9-1.
McKinzie Green registered a career-high four steals in the win while hitting a season-best eight points, while Jordan Nixon hit a career-high in rebounds with six.
Blair commented on Green's achievement after the game, "I really like what McKinzie (Green) was doing, getting some of those open-court steals. We hadn't had those in a very long time and that's the speed that she can bring to the table. Our goal on defense was to keep them under 25 percent. They hit 30 percent, they hit some tough shots, I give them credit. They had 14 offensive boards, we have to do better but at the same time, we got 15. I thought my guards rebounded a lot better. We shot them out of the zone then the kids shared the ball against their man to man and we kept hitting. We're a good three-ball shooting team and I'm pleased with the team, pleased with the crowd that came out and I was really pleased with how all 14 players were ready to play tonight."
The Aggies were hot from beyond the arc as Wells, Nixon, and Qadashah Hoppie shot 61 percent, as A&M leads the nation in 3-point shooting at 43.4 percent.
The Aggies opened the night with a 15-5 run and held a 27-11 lead after the first quarter, and closed the first half on an 18-5 run for a 24-point halftime lead.
Shalexxus Aaron led Texas Southern with 16 points for the Tigers, and A&M is now 10-3 all-time against the Tigers. This was the first matchup between the programs since 2002.
The Aggies next face DePaul on Wednesday, Nov. 15th, at Reed Arena at 7:00 p.m. The game can be seen on SEC Network+ on ESPN+.
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