AUBURN, Ala.- Texas A&M’s Chennedy Carter drove the length of the floor and made a game-winning runner with 4.6 seconds to play as the No. 24 Aggies extended their win streak to four in a 69-67 win over Auburn in a women’s basketball game Thursday at Auburn Arena.
Auburn (15-4, 3-3 SEC) rallied from an 11-point deficit with just under four minutes to play, tying the game with 17 seconds left with a Janiah McKay layup. With her team out of timeouts, Carter drove the ball the length of the floor to make her third career game-winning shot and finish with 28 points.
Texas A&M (15-4, 4-2 SEC) trailed 30-22 at halftime, but outscored Auburn 25-14 in the third quarter to take the lead into the final frame.
Carter led the Aggies with 28 points, her fourth 20+ point game in the last five outings. Kayla Wells added 19, Ciera Johnson reached double figures for the third straight game with 11 points and N’dea Jones notched her sixth double double of the season with 11 points and 15 rebounds.
With four straight wins, the Aggies match their longest win streak in SEC play since Feb. 2-12, 2017. Texas A&M has won all 12 matchups in the all-time series against Auburn.
Texas A&M returns home on Sunday, January 27 to host No. 15 Kentucky at 4 p.m.
Texas A&M
- Texas A&M is 15-4 on the season and 4-2 in SEC play. Auburn falls to 15-4 and 3-3 in SEC play
- The Aggies have won four straight games, the Aggies’ longest win streak in SEC play since Feb. 2-12, 2017
- Texas A&M has won all 12 matchups in the all-time series against Auburn
- At eight points, this is the Aggies’ largest comeback since erasing an 11-point deficit against Prairie View on Dec. 21
- This is the Aggies’ largest comeback in an SEC game since erasing an 11-point deficit at Tennessee on Feb. 12, 2017
- This marks the fifth time in school history Texas A&M has used only six players in a game, and the first time since Feb. 12, 2017 at Tennessee. Texas A&M is 5-0 in those games.
- Texas A&M is 70-6 all-time and 15-1 this season when leading after three quarters
- Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 372-155 in 16 seasons in Aggieland. He is 780-318 in his Hall of Fame career, which ranks seventh among active coaches in career wins
- Scored 20+ points for the fourth time in five games and the 11th time this season. She extends her school record with her 35th career 20+ point game.
- Scored 10+ points for the 26th consecutive game and the 51st time in 52 career games
- Made a season-high five 3-pointers
- Had her sixth double-double of the season—and her first in SEC play
- Scored 10+ points for the sixth time this season
- Had 10+ rebounds for the fourth straight game and the 13th time this season
- Grabbed 15+ rebounds for the fifth time this season
- Scored 10+ points for the second straight game and the 14th time this season
- Scored 10+ points for the third straight game and the 15th time this season. She has scored 10+ points in seven of her last eight games.
QUOTES
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair
“First off, y’all saw a hell of a ball game. They controlled the first half and I thought our kids responded at halftime. We had to start going inside and got 3 out of the 4 baskets early on. Jones and Johnson got some looks and they both ended up with 11 and 11.
We have to be balanced. Their trap is so good out there. Everybody turns it over; I don’t care if it is Connecticut, Notre Dame, or whatever. They are all going to turn it over against them, but can they stop you when they run your offense. We finally started running a little bit of offense in the second half instead of freelancing and hully-gullying, which we were doing in the first half.
When it got down to the end, we had an 11-point lead and then missed 2 free throws to go up by 13. We are a good free throw shooting team, but all of a sudden, I had my two best free throw shooters at the line. Chennedy Carter and Kayla Wells are my two best; they’ve hit many of them before, but the most important thing is Chennedy wanted the ball in those situations. Particularly on the press in the first half, we were too passive; yo-yoing it back and forth. We started trying to break it and they were fouling getting Jones to the line and that is who I want at the line. When Janiah McKay made that last shot; give her a little bit of credit because we had it defended pretty good. That’s why she is an All-SEC performer; first team in my book.
Daisa Alexander didn’t do too much until the end, but when she got hot; she’s a streak shooter and she threw in a couple of 3’s that really helped Auburn and hurt us. At the end of the game, sometimes I don’t need a timeout; Chennedy knows what to do. Our team knows what to do. Chennedy is willing to wear it if she misses. Jones has made so many plays for us and will continue to make them for us and she is just a sophomore. We just won two great road games; at Georgia and here and I was so proud of how we came back in the second half to build up that 11-point lead, but I was also really proud of Auburn on how they came back and did not give up.
You got a very good ball club down there in Auburn. This is the way this league is with Mississippi State is sitting right there at the top; everybody else, throw it up in the air, compete and that’s who’s going to win.
Somehow, we came back and won the rebounding battle and that was key in the second half. Our two post players went to work, and we were getting the offensive boards in the second half that we were not getting in the first half.
Give Coach Flo a lot of credit. When she got 11 down, she had her basketball team ready to go. You got a hell of a coach.”
Texas A&M sophomore Chennedy Carter
On her game-winning shot…
“In those possessions, I think big time players always make big time plays. I just wanted the ball, I’ve been in those situations before, and I feel like my freshman year has really prepared me for moments like this. Once I got the on ball screen I just took what the defense gave me and was lucky enough to make it.”
On what she felt after coming through in the final seconds for her team…
“It’s a great feeling, I wouldn’t be in that position without my teammates. They’re out there with me, getting me the ball, setting me the screens helping me get open when the double teams and triple teams come. It’s a great feeling.”
On second-half adjustments..
“That was just coach making adjustments. Our coaches did a great job of making adjustments tonight telling us where the gaps were, what was open, and we just moved the ball. It wasn’t just me, Kayla Wells make a lot of jump shots, Ciera Johnson getting a lot of rebounds and putting them back. It t was really everybody, everyone sticking together and playing as a team, and that’s how we found the open gaps. When they’re double-teaming someone’s always open so we just have to find that open player.”
On being a sophomore in the SEC…
“It is pretty tough, I have a lot of responsibility on this team and my job is to just be a leader and make sure everybody gets involved. So it is pretty tough, but as I said before, my freshman year prepared me a lot, I played a lot of minutes and learned the ways of the SEC. So know I’m just fine tuning myself, and still learning the game, but just really putting it all together.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics