BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – A short-handed Texas A&M women’s basketball team was edged out by a late Purdue surge in Wednesday afternoon’s 59-53 loss to the Boilermakers inside Reed Arena.
Despite only seven available players for the second-consecutive game, the Aggies (5-5) took Purdue (10-2, 1-1 Big Ten) to the brink with the score knotted 49-49 with 3:13 remaining in the contest.
Kay Kay Green played the entire 40 minutes, registering career highs for points (14), assists (6) and steals (3). Sydney Bowles added 12 points and five rebounds. Sahara Jones chipped in nine points, six rebounds, two blocks and one steal. Texas A&M owned a 45-33 edge in rebounds, including 11 by Aaliyah Patty and nine by Jada Malone.
After Jayla Smith made a layup to push the Boilermakers to a 47-40 advantage with 8:05 left in the contest, the Maroon & White went on a 9-2 run sparked by two Green jumpers, pulling even 49-49.
Coming out of a timeout at the 3:13 mark, Purdue scored the next seven points and led 56-49 with :23 seconds remaining. Green hit two free throws and Malone put in a layup in the final seconds, but the Aggies were unable pull out the victory.
The third quarter was a see-saw affair with eight lead changes, but Purdue outscored the Aggies 6-0 over the last 2:14 to take a 45-40 margin into the final period. Patty scored five points in the first 50 seconds of the third frame, giving A&M a 27-26 edge. Purdue opened up a four-point advantage at the midway point of the period, but four-straight points by Green knotted the game, 37-37, at the 3:19 mark. A Bowles 3-point field goal gave A&M their final lead of the period, 40-39, at the 2:45 mark before the Boilermakers’ late rush.
Bowles paced the Aggies with five points in a scrappy first period. The Aggies led 3-0 and 7-5, but Purdue rattled off three straight buckets to take an 11-7 lead at the 1:42 mark. Eriny Kindred canned a 3-point field goal to cut the Boilermakers’ gap to 11-10 at the break.
Purdue scored the first five points of the second period to stretch their advantage to 16-10, but a Mya Petticord layup started a 9-4 Aggie spurt, trimming the deficit to 20-19 at the 3:09 mark. The Boilermakers hit a pair of 3-point field goals to inflate their cushion to seven points, but Jones drained a trifecta to close out the half, shaving the gap to 26-22 heading into intermission.
Up Next
Texas A&M takes a holiday break before returning to the court on Thursday, Dec. 29 at No. 1 South Carolina to open up SEC play.
POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M moves to 5-5 in the 2022-23 regular season.
- The Aggies’ record against the Boilermakers moves to 1-4 all-time.
- Joni Taylor’s career record moves to 145-80 all-time and to 5-5 in her first season with the Aggies.
TEAM NOTES
- The Aggies held the advantage in rebounds, 45-33.
- Held Purdue to its lowest scoring opening quarter of the season (11).
- Forced just 26 points from the Boilermakers in the first half, the second-fewest points in a half this year from Purdue.
- Texas A&M has held six of its seven opponents at home to 60-or-less points for the entire game.
- Texas A&M utilized a starting lineup of Sydney Bowles, Kay Kay Green, Eriny Kindred, Sahara Jones and Aaliyah Patty for the second time this season (1-1).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Sydney Bowles
- Poured in 12 points, the sixth time this season she has scored 10-or-more points.
- Drained three 3-pointers, making it the nine games this season she has made one-or-more shots from behind the arc.
Kay Kay Green
- Led the Aggies in points, hitting a career-high 14 points to better her previous best of 11 recorded on Dec. 18, 2022, against SMU.
- Dished out a career-high six assists with her previous best being four against SMU on Dec. 18, 2022.
- Played for the entire 40 minutes and grabbed a career-best three steals.
Sahara Jones
- Tacked on nine points, six rebounds, two blocks and one steal.
Aaliyah Patty
- Led the team in rebounds as she brought down 11 boards.
- Has now reached double figures in rebounds a team-high four times this season.
- Contributed two blocks.
Maya Petticord
- Matched her career-high five rebounds that were last earned on Dec. 18, 2022 against SMU.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Joni Taylor
On Team’s Performance…
“I’m pleased with a lot of the things we did. We played well enough to win, but at the same time, it’s about making plays, making free throws and getting stops. We didn’t do those things in the end.”
On Team’s Progress Going into the Break…
“We grew a lot in the last 14 days. I’m proud of the seven women that have been available the last couple weeks. This is the progress we want going into the break. Sometimes measuring success isn’t always in the wins and losses. I’m happy with the direction we’re going, and we want to make sure that’s where we continue when we come back. They deserve a break. It’s a good opportunity for them to get away and rest with family. These women are high achieving academically and athletically. They have a lot on their plates. They need a break.”
Junior Guard Kay Kay Green
On finishing the game…
“We’re still young, figuring everything out and we just have to execute better coming down the stretch. We had them 49-49 and we made three turnovers, or empty possessions, and we couldn’t capitalize on those. Going forward, we just need to capitalize on the small things, and we’ll be fine.”
Freshman Guard Sydney Bowles
On what the team learned from non-conference play…
“I feel like we learned a lot. Just trying to figure out how to close out games. We had a handful of close games and I think that will be really important with us coming into SEC play because it’s such a tough league. I know that we grew, and we’ll be a really tough team to play. Even today, I’m sure Purdue came in and thought they would blow us up because we only have seven players. Over these past couple of days in between the break we had from SMU, we’ve been working really hard with the people that we have. Once people start slowly getting healthier off injuries, we will be even better. From our first practice to now, you can see things changing so I’m really excited to see what we’re going to do come SEC play.”