BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M women’s basketball fell in a double-overtime thriller, 81-79, to Alabama on Sunday night at Reed Arena.
Texas A&M (14-12, 4-10 SEC) was led by Qadashah Hoppie who scored a team-high 16 points and led the Aggies with five assists. Aaliyah Patty hit a game-tying shot to force the first overtime of the night and recorded the fifth double-double of her season, posting 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The Aggies dominated the glass in the first period, outrebounding the Crimson Tide (14-11, 5-9 SEC), 16-9, which led to nine second-chance points for A&M. Both Patty and Pitts grabbed four rebounds apiece and helped the Maroon & White build a 15-12 advantage after the first.
A&M began the new quarter with stifling defense as Alabama missed its first eight shots and did not make a field goal until the 5:28 mark in the second. The Aggies won the quarter and took a 31-22 lead into the half. Their dominance on the glass continued, boasting a 30-14 disparity on rebounds through the first half. Hoppie was too much for Alabama in the second, posting five points and four rebounds in the quarter to help A&M build a nine-point lead.
The Tide closed the gap in the third, outscoring the Aggies 19-11 in the period. Megan Abrams led the way for Alabama pouring in nine points in the frame. Despite losing the quarter, A&M still maintained a one-point advantage, 42-41, as the final 10 minutes of regulation began.
A 9-0 run at the start of the quarter gave Alabama a 53-46 lead with 6:05 left in the fourth. An 8-0 run from the Aggies helped get them back their lead, and from then on it was a back-and-forth affair. After Bama went up four, 63-59, with :40 seconds remaining, it seemed as though A&M was finished. However, two made freebies from Destiny Pitts and a clutch steal and lay-in from Eriny Kindred tied the thriller with :13.9 left on the clock. Alabama answered on the next possession, hitting a layup and leaving only :1.4 for A&M to try and find an answer. The Aggies would draw up a beautiful out-of-bounds play that freed up Patty underneath the rim for an easy lay-in as time expired to force overtime.
The first overtime saw the Aggies jump out to a 72-67 lead with 1:26 left, but Alabama would tie things back up after a pair of free throws as :47.0 seconds remained. Both A&M and the Crimson Tide were unable to put anything else on the board, sending the game into double overtime at Reed Arena.
In double OT, four lead changes set up the final sequence as A&M was down three with :8.8 seconds remaining in the ball game. Jordan Nixon was fouled and made the front end of the two attempts. She missed the second on purpose, allowing the Aggies to grab the rebound and attempt a shot as time was winding down to tie the game. A&M could not find the basket and fell, 81-79.
Up Next
The Texas A&M women’s basketball team will honor legendary head coach Gary Blair in his final home game in Aggieland during a pregame ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 24 against No. 1 South Carolina where the court at Reed Arena will be named “Gary Blair Court”.
POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M falls to 14-12 overall this season and 4-10 in conference play.
- The Aggies are now 10-2 all-time against the Crimson Tide.
TEAM NOTES
- Texas A&M had 21 points from players off the bench while Alabama only could gather up two. This is the 15th time this season the Aggies’ second unit has outperformed its opponent’s.
- The Maroon & White matched its highest rebound margin of the season in SEC play, outrebounding Bama 53-41. Before today, the Aggies had posted a 12-rebound advantage in two SEC games (Arkansas, Auburn) this year.
- Five Aggies scored in double digits for the second time this season. The previous was Nov. 11 against Southern.
- The Maroon & White recorded 16 assists to Alabama’s 11, marking the 13th time this season A&M has outperformed its opponent in assists
Texas A&M utilized a starting lineup of Qadashah Hoppie, Jordan Nixon, Kayla Wells, Destiny Pitts and Aaliyah Patty for the eighth time this season (5-3). - The Aggies have played in five multi-overtime games in program history (1-4).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Qadashah Hoppie played for a career-high of 47 minutes, registering a team-high 16 points. It is the fifth time this season the senior was in the game for 40-or-more minutes.
- Aaliyah Patty put up 11 points and 12 rebounds, producing her fifth double-double of the season.
- Kayla Wells played 44 minutes, tallying 15 points for the Aggies. The Dallas native has now scored 10-or-more points in 89 games throughout her career and is fifth all-time on the A&M scoring list (1,738)
- Sydnee Roby led the Aggies off the bench and played 21 minutes, scoring 11 points and bringing down nine rebounds.
- Destiny Pitts played a season-high 41 minutes, registering 10 points and eight rebounds.
- Women’s Basketball Hall-of-Famer Gary Blair moves to 852-345 in his career with a 444-182 record at Texas A&M.
POSTGAME QUOTE
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair’s opening statement …
“I think you saw a very good basketball game that had a lot of ups and downs for both teams. [Alabama was] able to be smart enough to play a two-man game, use 20-25 seconds and get it in the hands of [Megan] Abrams or [Brittany] Davis. So many times, we were supposed to be in a no-touch denial of those two players when the clock went under 10, but you saw repeatedly how many times they were able to get the touches back, whether we were in zone or man. That’s just a lack of discipline on our part.
The thing that hurt us in overtime was taking too long to get the info to our point guard who was using 15 seconds to start a play. We have lost confidence in being able to start a play quicker and get into the offense. We had a five-point lead in overtime with the ball and we couldn’t close it out. When you aren’t having that great of an outside shooting game, you better do one thing and that’s drive the basketball. We needed to drive the ball to make up for the fact that it was not our best outside shooting game.
No one is going to give you anything in the SEC. You have to earn every play.”