COLLEGE STATION- No. 24 Texas A&M picked up their second AP Top 15 win of the season, and extended its winning streak to five games, defeating No. 15 Kentucky 73-71 in a women’s basketball game at Reed Arena Sunday.
The Wildcats (17-3, 4-2 SEC) rallied back from down eight points with just over two minutes remaining, pulling as close as a single point, but the Aggies survived on the strength of a lead that had swelled to as many as 10 points in the game.
Chennedy Carter and Kayla Wells led Texas A&M (16-4, 5-2 SEC) with 20 points apiece, while Ciera Johnson added in a career-high 19 points.
The Aggies never trailed in the contest, leading 33-31 at halftime and 56-50 after three quarters.
Texas A&M shot 52.1% from the field, a season-high during SEC play, and went 6-of-8 from beyond the arc.
Earlier this season, the Aggies beat No. 8 Oregon State 76-70 at the Maui Jim Maui Classic in Lahaina, Hawai’i. Texas A&M’s current five-game winning streak is the program’s longest in SEC play since 2016.
Texas A&M returns to action on Thursday, January 31, hosting Vanderbilt at 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network.
GARY BLAIR RADIO SHOW RETURNS MONDAY
COLLEGE STATION – The Gary Blair Radio Show broadcasts Monday, January 28, at Rudy’s on Harvey Road from 6-7 p.m. The show is broadcast locally on WTAW (1620 AM) and hosted by Steve Miller. Fans can listen worldwide through 12thMan.com.
In addition to thoughts from Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair, the show includes in-depth interviews with people associated with the A&M program, a recap of the Aggies’ recent games and a preview of the upcoming schedule.
Fans are invited to come out to join the show and meet the Aggies as they talk all things Texas A&M women’s basketball.
NOTES
Texas A&M
- Texas A&M is 16-4 on the season and 5-2 in SEC play. Kentucky is 17-4 overall and 4-3 in SEC play.
- The Aggies have won five straight games, the Aggies’ longest streak in SEC play since a six-game streak from Feb. 7-25, 2016
- The Aggies are now 2-2 against AP Top 25 teams this season, and have picked up two wins against teams ranked in the AP Top 15
- Texas A&M has won three consecutive games in the series against Kentucky, and now leads the series 5-4
- Texas A&M is 16-1 this season and 71-6 all-time when leading after three quarters
- The Aggies clinched their 15th consecutive winning season, and the 30th in program history. Since 1973, Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair has suffered only one losing season, including his time as a volleyball coach at South Oak Cliff High School and as a softball coach at Louisiana Tech
- Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 373-155 in 16 seasons in Aggieland. He is 781-318 in his Hall of Fame career, which ranks seventh among active coaches in career wins
- Scored 20+ points for the third consecutive game and the 12th time this season. She extends her school record with her 36th career game of 20+ points
- Scored 10+ points for the 27th consecutive game and the 52nd time in 53 career games
- Scored 20+ points for the fourth time this season—and the first time in SEC play
- Scored 10+ points for the third straight game and the 15th time this season
- Had a career-high 19 points
- Scored 10+ points for the fourth straight game and the 16th time this season. She has scored 10+ points in eight of her last nine games.
QUOTES
Kentucky head coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening Statement…
“Well you have to give Texas A&M all the credit. They really fought hard today and made the plays necessary to win. This was obviously such a close game, and they made on more play than we did. We got into some real difficult situations in the game, and I was proud of the fight our team showed, and gave ourselves the chance to win the game and possibly go into overtime. I am proud of our players.”
On Texas A&M’s offensive rebounding…“I am surprised on how we dominated the offensive glass. 13-6, double them up, we had more offensive rebounds than they did. That was a great development for us. We out-rebounded them, but you just have to give Ciera Johnsonso much credit. She just stepped up and I thought the biggest difference in the game. Credit her for having an amazing offensive game.”
On South Carolina next week…“We just have to go back to work and learn the lessons that are available from this game and just see if we can improve.”
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair
Opening Statement…
“Give Kentucky credit, this was a carbon copy of the Auburn game—we got the big lead and let them back in the game. At the same time, with how hard both teams were playing, if we would have been down, I think we would have come back and had to make the decision at the end.
On the play of Kentucky…
“Morris got hot, that is why she is a first-team All-SEC performer. Rhyne Howard will be the Freshman of the year in our league, she is that good. I do not know if we did anything shut down Taylor Murray, last game she carried them to the win, but this game it was Howard and Morris. They have got three of the top twenty players in the league. So give them credit, you can imagine what the game is going to be like when we go back to Lexington. It is like this every time we play Kentucky.”
On late-game situations…
“We were trying to foul on the floor, and Shambria Washington fouled a three-point shooter. We have got to be more disciplined than that and we were lucky that was a lot of pressure because Rhyne Howard missed one of the free throws. Then we ran our perfect inbounds play that we get all the time, and I called the wrong number. Defending the last play, we had a foul to give, so the ball was on the other side of the court. We took Maci Morris away, Rhyne Howard had to make a play, that was not a great shot because she was not on balance. Give us a little credit for that. We contested, we did not foul, and we got the rebound.”
Texas A&M sophomore center Ciera Johnson
On overall performance today…
“I give a lot credit to the guards for just giving me the ball in the right place at the right time. All I really had to do was just go up. I think I really just did two moves in the paint, where some of them were shot fakes and layups.”
Texas A&M sophomore guard Kayla Wells
On being more open this game…
“That is basically every game. They are trying to take away Chennedy Carter first, and then try to take away me. With them trapping Chennedy, and focusing on her, that gives me a lot of looks especially early.”
On keeping Kentucky from getting momentum out front…“We really focused on paint points this game because we knew that Maci Morris was a beast, especially driving. We wanted to stop her driving and slow their offense down. They came out pretty early hitting with Rhyne Howard, and she is a great player. We just had to try to take away her and Maci Morris’s touches too.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics