No. 5 Texas A&M women routed by Washington 70-49
SEATTLE (AP) - Texas A&M coach Gary Blair has plenty to work on in trying to get his fifth-ranked team back on track after two straight losses.
He doesn't have much time before Southeastern Conference play begins at the end of this week.
"This team we have is good but we're not great," Blair said. "We've got to get this team to learn there is a fine line between good and great. ... Right now we're the furthest from great as you can be."
Kelsey Plum scored 20 of her 32 points in the first half, Talia Walton added a season-high 21 and Washington picked up its biggest non-conference regular-season win in nearly two decades with a 70-49 victory over Texas A&M on Monday night.
Washington (11-1) won its 11th straight, the longest winning streak for the Huskies since the 1989-90 season. Washington's last win over a ranked non-conference opponent came in 1997 when the Huskies beat then-No. 5 Vanderbilt.
Plum nearly outscored the Aggies (11-2) by herself in the first half. The nation's leading scorer hit a trio of 3-pointers as the Huskies built a 40-22 halftime advantage.
Aminah Williams added nine points and 15 rebounds for Washington. She scored seven straight in the second half after Texas A&M cut Washington's lead to nine.
"We've used the analogy of final exams and this was like our final and I tell you we aced it because I think they are a really, really good team," Huskies coach Mike Neighbors said.
Courtney Williams led the Aggies with 19 points. Tori Scott and Courtney Walker added 10 apiece.
The Aggies lost their second straight, after falling to No. 3 Texas on Dec. 21. Texas A&M had won 24 in a row against non-conference opponents.
And the Aggies were blitzed from the start. Texas A&M's only lead was 2-0.
"There was no comparison tonight," Blair said. "They wanted it more. They executed. We knew everything they were going to run and we couldn't stop them."
Last year's loss at Texas A&M was the only time in Plum's career that she failed to score in double figures and she was hesitant to watch film of that game until Neighbors made her view it twice.
She more than made up for the poor performance this time. Plum had 15 of Washington's first 24 points, and her 3-pointer with 10 minutes left in the first half gave the Huskies a 12-point lead. Plum finished 11-of-23 shooting, and Walton made four 3-pointers.
Washington's lead reached 22 early in the second half, but Texas A&M's press defense chipped away at the advantage. Texas A&M trimmed the deficit to nine on Walker's reverse layup with 9:23 left. That was as close as the Aggies got the rest of the way.
Aminah Williams scored seven consecutive points, including an offensive rebound with one arm and putback while being fouled. The three-point play pushed Washington's lead back to 14, and she added a layup for a 62-46 advantage.
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ON THE BOARDS
Despite being undersized, Washington outrebounded the Aggies 44-42. Six of Aminah Williams' rebounds came on the offensive end.
"That's the upset of the night," Neighbors said.
ASSISTANT GETS THE WIN
Blair had been 13-0 in his career against former assistants before Monday. Neighbors served as the director of operations at Arkansas when Blair was the Razorbacks' head coach.
TIP-INS
Texas A&M: Courtney Williams was the extent of the Aggies' offense in the first half. Texas A&M shot 25 percent while Williams had 11 points. Jordan Jones was 0 of 7 in the first half and 0 for 9 in the game. She finished with three points.
Washington: Plum became the fastest player to reach 1,000 points in Washington history in the opening moments of the first half.
UP NEXT
Texas A&M: The Aggies host North Texas on Wednesday in their non-conference finale before the start of SEC play.
Washington: The Huskies open Pac-12 play on Saturday at No. 22 Arizona State.