Aggies Drop Crucial SEC Game To Alabama in Double Overtime
Alabama saw its desperation pay off on Sunday, as the Crimson Tide defeated the Texas A&M Aggies, 81-79, in double overtime at Reed Arena in a crucial game for both teams.
The Aggies (14-12, 4-10 in SEC) fell behind by four points early in the second overtime and had to fight to catch the Crimson Tide (14-11, 5-9). Texas A&M nearly did.
But the Aggies’ lack of execution down the stretch ended its hopes. Down 80-78 with 13 seconds left, the Aggies had a chance to tie or win the game. But Destiny Pitts’ pass to Qadashah Hoppie ended up tipped by Alabama’s Megan Abrams, who stole the ball and drew a foul from Hoppie with 8.8 seconds left.
Abrams missed the first free throw and made the second, keeping the Aggies in it. But, with no time outs, Texas A&M needed to score three points. Nixon drove all the way to the basket and drew a foul but failed to make the layup with three seconds left. Nixon made the first and then appeared to miss the second intentionally. A&M’s Aaliyah Patty grabbed the rebound and had a chance to force a third overtime, but her layup was too high and missed as time expired.
In spite of the fact that both the Aggies and the Crimson Tide were well under-.500 in league action, both teams played like there was something on the line — and it may have been a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
ESPN’s Paul Sunderland said during the broadcast that both Texas A&M’s Gary Blair and Alabama’s Kristy Curry told him before the game that the loser of the game was “probably” out of contention for the NCAA Tournament.
ESPN’s latest projected 68-team field had the Aggies as the fourth team out of the NCAA Tournament as of Sunday. Alabama, meanwhile, wasn’t even on the bubble, but the Crimson Tide’s surprise win over Tennessee on Thursday may have vaulted it into consideration.
In overtime, the Aggies built a quick five-point lead, sparked by Patty’s early layup and a 3-pointer by Kayla Wells. But, the Crimson Tide wouldn’t relent. A Hannah Barber 3-pointer, followed by two free throws by Abrams, tied the game for Alabama at 72-all with 47 seconds left.
Both teams had chances to win after that. Nixon missed a 3-pointer for the Aggies, and after a Wells rebound, they got another chance. But Nixon’s layup with nine seconds left failed to hit the rim, leading to a shot-clock violation. Abrams had a chance to win it on the other end, and her jumper didn’t fall, sending the game to a second overtime.
Patty sent the game to overtime for the Aggies as the buzzer sounded. With 1.4 seconds left and down two points, the Aggies took two timeouts to draw up a play that freed Patty on a back screen for a wide-open layup to tie the game at 65-all.
Texas A&M had to work furiously to tie the game. After controlling the game in the first half and building a nine-point halftime lead, the Crimson Tide went on a 16-3 run to start the second half to build as much as a seven-point lead with 4:46 left in the fourth quarter. But the Aggies worked their way back into the game and took the lead. With 27 seconds left the Aggies were in desperation mode and down four points.
The Aggies had the ball and tried to inbound it to Pitts, who drew an Alabama foul. She made both free throws to cut the lead to two points. But, with just one team foul, the Aggies had to foul Alabama four times just to send the Crimson Tide to the free throw line. On what would have been the foul would have put Alabama in the bonus, the Aggies’ Eriny Kindred instead stole the ball and drove to the basket for a layup and a 63-63 tie with 13 seconds left.
Abrams answered with a drive to the basket that carved up the Aggie defense and resulted in a lay-up with 1.4 seconds left.
Davis had a career-high 32 points for Alabama, while Abrams had 26 points. JaMya Mingo-Young had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Hoppie had 16 points, Wells had 15 points, Patty had 11 points and Pitts had 10 points for Texas A&M. Patty ended up with 12 rebounds, giving her a double-double.
The Aggies have two games remaining before the SEC Tournament starts on March 2 in Nashville. On Thursday, the Aggies host No. 1 South Carolina, and the court at Reed Arena will be christened Gary Blair Court. Then, next Sunday, the Aggies wrap up the regular season at No. 21 Georgia.
In other SEC games on Sunday, No. 1 South Carolina defeated No. 12 Tennessee, 67-53; No. 11 LSU defeated No. 17 Florida, 66-61; Auburn defeated No. 21 Georgia, 65-60; Kentucky defeated Arkansas, 78-55; Ole Miss defeated Vanderbilt, 57-47; and Missouri defeated Mississippi State, 76-66.
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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.