16th-ranked Georgia in the SEC tournament semifinals. “Did we peak too early?” Blair said, referring to a 23-1 start that included a 13-1 SEC record, but he didn’t think so. “We played our butts off all year.” A&M might have to overachieve in order to match last season’s success after having a program- and nationbest trio of players taken in the WNBA draft. Replacing center Ciera Johnson, power forward N’dea Jones and shooting guard Aaliyah Wilson is a huge challenge as they combined for 230 career starts. Johnson, in addition to being the player the offense went through, was the player everyone followed.
Jones had the most rebounds and doubledoubles in program history and Wilson was a first-round pick who made an opening-day WNBA roster and is still in the league. A&M caught a huge break when wing Kayla Wells and sixth woman Destiny Pitts both opted to return for a senior season. Wells has made 94 career starts, averaging 13.4 points the last three seasons. Blair said Pitts was the best pure shooter he’d coached when she transferred in from Minnesota and she proved it, hitting 49 of 106 from 3-point range for 46.2%. A&M will be a huge threat from the perimeter as Wells is shooting 36.9% from 3-point range in her
career – 104 of 282. A&M’s third returning starter is junior point guard Jordan Nixon, who didn’t disappoint in her first season after having to sit out the 2019-20 season after transferring from Notre Dame. Nixon hit buzzerbeating layups to beat Arkansas twice, then capped a 35-point game against Iowa State in the NCAA tournament with a layup at the buzzer for the 84-82 overtime victory. That came on the heels of 21 points in the victory over Troy. “What a young lady to have coming back,” Blair said. “[It’s] very similar to Johnny Manziel when he got all that attention for beating Alabama back then.” A&M will have newcomers inside.
Candidates from within the program are sophomore forward Maliyah Johnson and sophomore center Kenyal Perry along with a pair of transfers in junior center Sydnee Roby (Miami) and senior forward Aaliyah Patty (Ohio State). Blair’s most important newcomers, though, are on the bench after losing longtime assistants Amy Wright (Oklahoma) and Bob Starkey (Auburn). They were replaced by co-associate head coach Vernette Skeete and assistant coach Greg Brown who joins longtime assistant Kelly Bond-White in trying to make Blair’s 50th season in coaching special
soCCer
A&M soccer coach G Guerrieri is a dozen years short of Blair, but he’s the dean of Aggieland mentors, entering his 29th season. Guerrieri and his players are coming off their own roller-coaster type season as they played a split season because of COVID-19. A&M went 7-2 in the fall and 4-1 in the spring to earn the No. 7 seed for the NCAA tournament, which a like the women’s basketball tournament was played entirely in North Carolina so COVID-19 protocols and testing could be observed. A&M (12-4-1) beat South Florida in the first round 2-0 and won 4-3
on penalty kicks over Oklahoma State after a 3-3 tie in regulation, but lost to North Carolina 1-0 in the Elite Eight. “This [was] a super year and hopefully they’ve set the stage now for something that could be even more special later in 2021,” Guerrieri said. A&M returns sophomore forward Barbara Olivieri who led the team with 21 points (8 goals, 5 assists). Senior Karlina Sample was co-SEC defender of the year. Junior goalkeeper Kenna Caldwell, was 8-3-1 with an 0.89 goal allowed average with seven shutouts.
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