Aggie Women Prepare to Start Difficult SEC Stretch
Now comes the hard part for Texas A&M and its NCAA Tournament hopes.
The Aggie women are preparing for a stretch of five games leading into the SEC Tournament, with four of those games coming against ranked teams. That stretch begins on Sunday when the Aggies (14-9, 4-7 SEC) host LSU at 2 p.m. at Reed Arena.
One could assess some blame to the Tigers (20-4, 8-3) for the Aggies’ current situation, as the Tigers handed Texas A&M its first SEC loss on Jan. 2, 75-66, in Baton Rouge. From there, the Aggies lost their first four SEC games, and seven of their first eight, before finally emerging from that funk last week with a win over Arkansas.
After victories over Kentucky and Vanderbilt following the win over the Razorbacks, the Aggies have nudged up to 10th place in the SEC standings. The only future opponent below the Aggies right now is Alabama.
Texas A&M’s three-game winning streak is due in part to better shooting and defense, with their 53.7 percent clip against Vanderbilt on Thursday night the best during the three-game win streak.
Kayla Wells and Qadashah Hoppie each had 19 points to lead the Aggies. Hoppie connected on three of the team's six 3-pointers. The Aggies were also a perfect 12-12 from the free-throw line.
Forward Aaliyah Patty scored 10 points and shared a team-high eight rebounds with Destiny Pitts, who also scored nine.
At stake for the Aggies coming down the stretch is the opportunity to send their retiring coach, Gary Blair, to the NCAA Tournament, something the Aggies have done in each of the last 15 seasons in which there has been a tournament (2020 one was canceled). The winning streak has helped put the Aggies back on the tournament bubble, per ESPN’s Bracketology.
But a victory over the No. 14 Tigers would certainly be a boost for the Aggies and their chances. LSU has won its last three games, but before that the Tigers had a two-game losing streak, falling to Arkansas and Florida.
LSU enters the game with three players averaging double figures in scoring, including Khayla Pointer, who is on nearly every national player of the year watch list. She averages 19 points and pulls down another 6.4 rebounds.
Alexis Morris and Faustine Aifuwa are also scorers to watch for the Tigers, as they average 15.5 points and 10.3 points, respectively. Autumn Newby leads the Tigers by averaging 7.3 rebounds.
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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.