News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The Texas A&M women’s basketball team stymied the No. 11 Kentucky Wildcats with a heroic defensive effort in Thursday’s 61-55 upset victory inside Reed Arena.
Kentucky (16-2, 5-1 SEC) entered the game averaging 79.8 points per game, including 83.2 per contest in league play before running into a buzz saw. It marked just the second time UK was held under 70 points this season.
A hounding Aggie defense held the Wildcats to 20-of-64 (31.3%) shooting from the field, including a microscopic 1-of-18 (5.6%) from 3-point range.
In the decisive fourth quarter, Kentucky managed just 2-of-15 (13.3%) from the field. The Wildcats went without a field goal the final 4:45 of the contest.
Following Kentucky’s lone made 3-pointer of the game, hit by Teonni Key, Texas A&M (10-8, 3-3 SEC) trailed 49-44 with 7:16 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Aggies scored on the next three trips down the court to take their first lead since the 3:11 mark of the first quarter. First Aicha Coulibaly hit a pair from the charity stripe and then Lauren Ware made back-to-back layups to put the Maroon & White up 50-49 with 5:50 left.
Kentucky briefly reclaimed the advantage, 52-50, with a jumper and free throw by Dazia Lawrence, but it was all Aggies down the home stretch.
Sahara Jones knotted the game, 52-52, with a tip-in at the 4:01 mark and Solè Williams drained a 3-pointer a minute later to put the Aggies ahead on her only bucket of the contest.
Texas A&M put on a block party the rest of the way as the Aggies blocked three of Kentucky’s four field goal attempts in the final two minutes, including a pair by Ware. Williams put the game on ice, hitting all four of her free throws in the final 32 seconds.
Coulibaly led the Aggies with 21 points, including 14 in the second half. She added seven rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot. Lauren Ware tallied 10 points, four blocks and three rebounds. Jones pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Aggies trailed 14-11 after the first quarter despite a stout defensive performance. The Maroon & White held Kentucky without a field goal for the first 4:49, building leads of 6-0 and 7-2 as UK started 0-of-7. Texas A&M led 11-10 at the 2:17 mark, but two buckets in the final 42 seconds gave the Wildcats the lead at the intermission. Coulibaly paced the Aggies with seven points in the quarter.
The Wildcats scored the first three baskets of second quarter, building a 20-11 lead at the 7:29 mark. Maroon & White responded with a 14-6 run, cutting the deficit to 26-25 with 1:35, but Kentucky once again scored two field goals in the final minute to mount a 30-25 lead at halftime. It marked just the third time in 2024-25 that the Wildcats were held to 30 points or less in the first half.
After Kentucky built its first double-digit lead of the game, 40-30, at the 4:06 mark of the third quarter, Taliyah Parker got the Aggies back in the fray. She hit a 3-pointer with 3:43 left in the period and two more jumpers cut the deficit to five points. Coulibaly scored A&M’s last five points of the third quarter and the Aggies trailed 46-42 at the last break.
On the offensive end, the Aggies’ 12 turnovers matched their lowest total of the season.
Texas A&M returns to the hardwood at No. 5 LSU Sunday at 3 p.m. in Baton Rouge.
POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- The Aggies are now 11-5 against the Kentucky Wildcats in the all-time series.
- Joni Taylor’s career record moves to 178-116 all-time and to 38-41 in her three seasons with the Aggies.
TEAM NOTES
- The Aggies held Kentucky to its lowest-scoring first quarter (14 points) in SEC play this season and the second lowest-scoring first quarter in any game in 2024-25.
- Texas A&M has won the second half for the fifth time in six conference games. In those five outings, the Aggies are outscoring opponents 40.0-30.2 in the final two quarters.
- Kentucky was held to 30 points or less in the first half for just the third time this season and first time in an SEC game.
- The Wildcats are the 12th team this season the Aggies have held below 40% from the field and are Texas A&M is 10-2 in those games.
- Kentucky was forced into its worst shooting half of SEC play after the first two quarters of play, where the Maroon & White held the Wildcats to 37.5% from the field.
- A&M won its second ranked game of the season against No. 11 Kentucky and for the second time since Jan. 5, 2025.
- The Aggies held the No. 1 team in the country in blocked shots per game to zero blocks on the night.
- The Maroon & White tied the fewest number of turnovers (12) all season.
- The Aggies bench outscored Kentucky’s 19-6. The Wildcats entered the game as the second to worst team in the nation in second unit scoring per game (9.1).
- Texas A&M began with a starting lineup of Lauren Ware, Solè Williams, Janae Kent, Sahara Jones and Aicha Coulibaly (9-7).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Aicha Coulibaly
- Scored 10 of her 21 points in the third quarter.
- Coulibaly posted the sixth double-digit scoring second half of the season with 14 against the Wildcats.
- Coulibaly poured in 20+ points for the fourth time this year.
Taliyah Parker
- Went 4-of-4 from the field, marking the first time she was perfect shooting the ball this season.
Erica Moon
- Swatted her first block of the season and her career.
Solè Williams
- One rebound shy of her season high (6).
Lauren Ware
- Swatted two blocks in the last two minutes of the game.
- Blocked three-or-more shots for the seventh time this year.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Joni Taylor
On the impact of the win and how the team has improved throughout the season…
“We’re maturing and we’re continuing to get better. Our resolve has gotten better, and the mental aspect of our game is continuing to grow just as much as what we have been doing on the floor. We have to remember we have a really young team, and we have some players who have not played a lot or have been absent in some years. I think all of it is just coming together at the right time and we still have a long way to go. This was a great win for us and a great win for our fans at home, but we still have work to do. I think we did a good job of not getting too low, and now we have to make sure we do a great job of not getting too high and staying in control with more games in front of us in a really tough league.
Head Coach Joni Taylor
On the impact of the win and how the team has improved throughout the season…
“We’re maturing and we’re continuing to get better. Our resolve has gotten better, and the mental aspect of our game is continuing to grow just as much as what we have been doing on the floor. We have to remember we have a really young team, and we have some players who have not played a lot or have been absent in some years. I think all of it is just coming together at the right time and we still have a long way to go. This was a great win for us and a great win for our fans at home, but we still have work to do. I think we did a good job of not getting too low, and now we have to make sure we do a great job of not getting too high and staying in control with more games in front of us in a really tough league.
On the team’s preparation and game plan for Kentucky…
“We talked a lot about putting four quarters together. I think defensively, we definitely did that. I felt it in practice, but we’re just starting to catch up. We’re starting to figure some things out and we’re starting to grow up. I have to give Rodney Hill his flowers, he had an excellent scouting report. We came with a great game plan and followed it to a tee. It worked immediately and it worked for 40 minutes. Our players were already bought into it, but when you see the immediate results of it and the game gets going, you just feed into it even more.”
“We talked a lot about putting four quarters together. I think defensively, we definitely did that. I felt it in practice, but we’re just starting to catch up. We’re starting to figure some things out and we’re starting to grow up. I have to give Rodney Hill his flowers, he had an excellent scouting report. We came with a great game plan and followed it to a tee. It worked immediately and it worked for 40 minutes. Our players were already bought into it, but when you see the immediate results of it and the game gets going, you just feed into it even more.”
Redshirt Senior Lauren Ware
On the team’s success on defense…
“We executed our game plan almost to perfection. If you look back to see if we executed the game plan and played a full four quarters, this would be the game [to watch]. We knew that they have good guard play and could shoot threes at a high rate, so our game plan was to just let the post take the outside shots and heavy help on the guards. I think we took away the looks that they wanted to get and made them take shots they weren’t normally used to taking. I think we got them out of their rhythm enough to get the job done.”
On the team’s success on defense…
“We executed our game plan almost to perfection. If you look back to see if we executed the game plan and played a full four quarters, this would be the game [to watch]. We knew that they have good guard play and could shoot threes at a high rate, so our game plan was to just let the post take the outside shots and heavy help on the guards. I think we took away the looks that they wanted to get and made them take shots they weren’t normally used to taking. I think we got them out of their rhythm enough to get the job done.”
Redshirt Senior Aicha Coulibaly
On notching the win against No. 11 Kentucky at home…
“It feels amazing. That is what is expected from us and that is what we’ve been working towards since the summer. We’ve lost games we shouldn’t have lost, but the SEC is not easy. Every single week we are going to face tough teams that are ranked in the SEC, so we have to be ready every single night. It doesn’t matter what the ranking is, we are going to play hard and do what we do.”