News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The Texas A&M women’s basketball team outscored Georgia 18-5 in the final 4:03 of the contest to triumph over the Lady Bulldogs, 68-63, Thursday evening inside Reed Arena.
Aicha Coulibaly led the fourth-quarter surge, scoring 12 of her 14 points in the period, including 10 during A&M’s 18-5 run.
Georgia (9-10, 1-4 SEC) led 58-52 when Lauren Ware hit a jumper from the top of the key to start Texas A&M’s charge. The next trip down the court, Ware made 1-of-2 from the free throw line to shave the margin to 58-53 with 3:15 remaining.
Texas A&M (9-8, 2-3 SEC) got quick steals on Georgia’s next two possessions to tie the game. First, Coulibaly forced a turnover and converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play. Erica Moon followed with a steal and an assist on a jumper by Amirah Abdur-Rahim at the 2:39 mark to pull even, 58-58.
Abdur-Rahim put the Aggies ahead with two foul shots, but Georgia made it a draw again, 60-60, with a layup by Asia Avinger with 43 seconds remaining.
Coulibaly scored the game’s next five points with an old-fashioned 3-pointer with 22 seconds remaining and a fastbreak layup at the 17 second mark following her own steal.
After Georgia’s De’Mauri Flournoy hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining, Coulibaly put the game on ice with a pair of free throws and Solè Williams added a cosmetic free throw in the final second.
The donnybrook featured 10 lead changes and 12 ties, including a standstill after each quarter.
Coulibaly’s 14 points led the Aggies, and she added six rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block. Williams scored 13 points, hitting 4-of-7 from long range, to go with five assists and a career-high six rebounds. Abdur-Rahim tallied 12 points, six rebounds, two steals and a block.
The Aggies jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first three minutes with Janae Kent and Taliyah Parker hitting 3-pointers. Georgia went on a 10-3 spurt to claim the lead, 12-11, at the 2:34 mark. Parker made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe in the waning seconds, knotting the game at 14-14 after the first quarter.
The second quarter resulted in another stalemate with the score 30-30 at the intermission. Georgia jumped out to a 21-16 lead at the 6:38 mark when Flournoy hit a trifecta to cap a 7-2 run. The Aggies scored the next five points, tying the contest at 21-21. Back-to-back buckets by Sahara Jones gave Texas A&M its largest cushion of the quarter, 28-25, at the 2:02 mark.
The teams were deadlocked again after the next 10 minutes of action, going into the final break tied 46-46. Georgia pounced on the Aggies coming out of halftime, surging to a 41-35 advantage at the 3:25 mark. The Aggies clawed back into contest with Abdur-Rahim making layups on consecutive trips down the court to cut the deficit to 45-43 at the 1:43 mark. A Williams long-range field goal with 16 seconds remaining in the quarter deadlocked the score again.
The Aggies return to the court to take on No. 12 Kentucky next Thursday, Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. inside Reed Arena.
POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- The Aggies are now 11-6 against the Georgia Bulldogs in the all-time series.
- The two programs’ last three meetings have been decided by a combined 11 points. The Aggies are 2-1 in those three matchups and the home team has won every contest.
- Joni Taylor’s career record moves to 177-116 all-time and to 37-41 in her three seasons with the Aggies.
TEAM NOTES
- The Aggies made seven triples, their second most this season behind 10 against Western Michigan.
- The Aggies outscored the Bulldogs 18-5 in last 4:03 of the game.
- In their last two meetings, the Aggies have held Georgia to 58.5 points per game.
- The Maroon & White held Georgia below 40% from the field, marking the 11th time this year they have done so and are 9-2 in those games.
- The Texas A&M bench outscored UGA’s by a count of 27-25. The Aggies are 9-2 when their second unit outscores their opponent’s.
- Texas A&M has won the second half in four of the first five games in league play. The team is outscoring opponents in those four games it has won the second half by an average of 41.0-31.5
- Texas A&M began with a starting lineup of Lauren Ware, Solè Williams, Janae Kent, Sahara Jones and Aicha Coulibaly (8-7).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Solè Williams
- Recorded a new career high of five rebounds.
- Tied a career high of four made 3-pointers.
Taliyah Parker
- One rebound shy of her season high (5).
Erica Moon
- Matched her career high in rebounds (3) and assists (4).
- Logged a career high of 19 minutes in Thursday’s contest.
Aicha Coulibaly
- Scored 12 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Amirah Abdur-Rahim
- Scored in double figures for the third time as an Aggie with 12 points.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Joni Taylor
On coming back from an eight-point deficit …
“Georgia came out and went on a run, but we were able to come back and make some key stops. We practice ‘stop, score, stop, score’ all the time in practice, and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. Tonight, it worked. They lost their rhythm, and we were able to capitalize on it with those two steals by AC [Aicha Coulibaly] and Erica [Moon]. Those caused a huge momentum shift.”
Sophomore Solè Williams
On the overall performance in the game …
“Coach Joni was stressing how much we needed this win during warm-ups, so we did everything we could. We did fall short in some areas, but we did what we needed to secure the win. It was important to all of us”
Fifth-Year Senior Aicha Coulibaly
On finding her rhythm in the fourth quarter …
“I feed off of defense, so whenever I get a steal, I get excited. I wasn’t forcing anything. I just let the game come to me. I was going to take the shots I normally take and if it goes in it goes in, if not I’m just going to get it back on defense. I stayed in the game, kept my confidence and just kept going.”