News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The Texas A&M women’s basketball team outscored Ole Miss 20-6 in the fourth quarter to earn Sunday’s 60-58 win against the No. 25 Rebels inside Reed Arena.
The Aggies overcame a 16-point deficit for the win. It was the largest margin erased in an A&M victory since coming back from down 17 against DePaul in an NCAA Tournament second round game March 18, 2018.
The ranked victory was A&M’s first since beating No. 5 South Carolina Feb. 28, 2021, and it snapped a 19-game losing streak against ranked opponents.
The Aggies’ first lead of the game came with 2:50 remaining in the contest when Solé Williams sank a 3-pointer from the top of the arc, handing Texas A&M (8-6, 1-1 SEC) a 57-55 edge. In addition to trailing by 16 points at halftime, the Maroon & White found themselves down 52-40 after three quarters.
Aicha Coulibaly rimmed in a floating jumper with 52 second left, inflating the cushion to 59-55. Ole Miss (10-4, 1-1 SEC) responded with Kirsten Dean sinking three free throws at the 43 second mark, shaving the deficit to 59-58.
The Aggies’ attempt to add to the lead went by the wayside when Janae Kent missed a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left, but Jada Malone snagged the rebound. The ensuing hot potato resulted in Williams getting fouled and converting on 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, setting up the Rebels’ last gasp with six seconds remaining.
Tameiya Sadler missed a driving layup on the right side and Kent snared the rebound at the buzzer to secure the win. The Maroon & White defense forced Ole Miss to shoot 4-of-26 from the field in the second half and 0-of-12 in the fourth frame.
Williams scored a season-high 18 points, scoring a dozen in the second half.
Malone posted a perfect shooting performance, hitting 7-of-7 en route to 14 points. She added seven rebounds.
Kent ended the contest with nine points, four rebounds, one block and one steal. Coulibaly chipped in with eight points, five rebounds and two assists. Sahara Jones had five points and nine rebounds.
Ole Miss jumped out to a 22-12 lead after one quarter, outscoring the Aggies 8-2 on points off turnovers. Malone kept A&M in striking distance, going 3-for-3 from the floor in the period.
Texas A&M was doomed by the Rebels’ hot shooting in the second quarter as the Aggies fell behind 41-25 at halftime. Ole Miss made 6-of-9 (66.7%) from the field and 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.
The Maroon & White defense stiffened coming out of the locker room, holding the Rebels without a field goal the first 4:15 of the third quarter. The 9-2 A&M surge cut Ole Miss’ advantage to 43-34. The Aggies drew as close as nine points three more times in the period, but a Sadler backboard banking 3-pointer from the right corner with 39 seconds remaining staked the Rebels to a 52-40 advantage heading into the final break.
Kent fueled an Aggies’ 10-0 rally to start the fourth quarter. She opened the scoring with a putback bucket and closed out the surge with a 3-pointer to tie the contest 52-52 at the 5:27 mark. The Rebels were able to fend off the Aggies briefly with three free throws by Madison Scott before the he final Texas A&M charge.
The Aggies return to the court at No. 2 South Carolina Thursday, Jan. 9 at 4 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- The Aggies are now 12-6 against the Ole Miss Rebels in the all-time series.
- Joni Taylor’s career record moves to 176-114 all-time and to 36-39 in her three seasons with the Aggies.
TEAM NOTES
- The Aggies overcame a 15+ deficit for the first time since coming back from down 17 against DePaul in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on March 18, 2018.
- The ranked victory was the program’s first since beating No. 5 South Carolina Feb. 28, 2021. The Maroon & White snapped a 19-game losing streak versus ranked opponents.
- The Aggies allowed just six points in the fourth quarter. It marked the sixth time this season that the program has given up single digits in a frame this year.
- The Maroon & White defense forced Ole Miss to score a season-low 58 points. The Rebels shot 4-of-26 from the field in the second half.
- The Aggies held their opponent to under 40% from the field for the ninth time this year. The team is 8-1 in those games.
- Texas A&M began with a starting lineup of Lauren Ware, Solè Williams, Janae Kent, Sahara Jones and Aicha Coulibaly (7-3).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Sole Williams
- Scored 18 points, breaking her previous season high (17).
Taliyah Parker
- Recorded two blocks for the second time this season, matching he career high.
Lauren Ware
- Led the team with two steals breaking her season high.
- Posted multiple blocks for the seventh time this year.
Jade Malone
- Went 7-of-7 from the field, marking the third time she was perfect shooting the ball this season.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Joni Taylor
On the unity of the team …
“They stick together, and we’ve been saying all year long that we’ve got the pieces. We’re behind, we’ve got to continue to get caught up, but they have fight, they have resilience, they love each other, they play for each other and they play for us as coaches. We coach for them.
On the Aggies’ confidence with a ranked win…
“I think we tell them what they’re capable of. They know what they’re capable of, but getting a top 25 win at home is huge for them and their belief. I’m not going to say a reward, but we’ve been in so many close games. We’ve been down, made a run and couldn’t get over the hump, so this is good for that reason.”
Redshirt Junior Jada Malone
On the impact of this ranked win moving forward into conference play …
“It’s extremely important. As you said, they’re a ranked opponent, so they are one of the best teams in the country and for us to have that confidence moving forward against anyone that we play is really crucial.”
Sophomore Solè Williams
On the Aggies’ holding Ole Miss back in scoring in the second half…
“I think we definitely saw what we were doing in the second half was working and we stuck with it. We just made sure that we were playing as hard as we could. We were diving on the floor for balls. We made sure to stay on course and do what we had to do to knock them off their game.”
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