Senior Day spoiled as No. 11 A&M falls to No. 15 Kentucky, 71-58

For the second time in two years, Senior Day at Reed Arena was spoiled by the visitors for the Texas A&M women’s basketball team.

The 11th-ranked Aggies were out-rebounded 57-32 and seniors Courtney Walker and Courtney Williams combined for a 10-of-31 performance from the floor as the 15th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats left College Station with a 71-58 victory on Sunday afternoon. With the loss, A&M finishes the regular season with a 21-8 mark overall and an 11-5 record in SEC play.

Walker scored a game-high 16 points, Williams added 13 and point guard Jordan Jones dished out 10 assists without turning the ball over in the loss.

Additionally, seniors Chelsea Jennings and Rachel Mitchell combined for 16 points off the bench.

While the Aggies were already locked into the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament, the Wildcats were still playing for seeding and their effort trumped that of A&M time and time again.

“Today, this was a toughness game,” said Blair. “They wanted it a whole lot more than us. We wanted it, but they just played tougher. If we get mishandled like a 98-pound weakling on the beach, that’s what happens inside.”

Out of the gate, it looked as if would be the Aggies who would run away with the contest as six quick points from Walker helped A&M grow a 10-1 lead midway through the first quarter. But the Aggies quit going to what was working for them and allowed Kentucky to climb back into the contest, leading by just one, 15-14, at the end of the first quarter.

“After we got the lead, we started playing a little bit of ‘I-ball’,” said Blair. “(The shots we were taking were) not good shots. Our shot selection was bad for about five or six minutes and that allowed them to get back in the game and regroup.”

In the second, Kentucky began asserting their dominance inside and used a 9-0 run midway through the quarter to go from down three to up six, 25-19, with 4:47 left before halftime. At the break, the Wildcats held a 30-28 lead and were nearly doubling up A&M on the boards 31-16.

The trend continued into the third as the Wildcats grew their lead as large as 12 near the end of the period and were able to take a double-digit lead into the final 10 minutes of the game.
In total, the Aggies connected on just three baskets during the third quarter and scored just 11 points

“They were very aggressive on Courtney Walker and Courtney Williams,” Jones said of Kentucky’s defensive effort. “It made them catch the ball out of their comfort zone and they did a good job of making them overuse the dribble to get shots off.”

The Wildcats stretched their lead to as many 15 early in the fourth, but the senior-led Aggies would not go down easy. Down 11 midway through the period, A&M turned Kentucky over on three straight trips down the floor. However, they could only muster two points on the extra possessions as both Jones and Williams missed layups in transition that would have cut the lead down even farther.

Those missed baskets seemed to quiet the Reed Arena crowd and hindered A&M’s attempt to build momentum for a late-game push.

“We forced turnovers, got the crowd into it and had a chance,” said Blair. “We got selfish and wouldn’t pass on a 2-on-1 break and then Jordan missed a layup. We had the chance to get the crowd into it.”

Though the loss doesn’t affect A&M from an SEC Tournament standpoint, it could potentially impact their seeding in the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies are still more than likely on the right side of the hosting bubble (top four seeds in each region), but now probably need at least one victory in the SEC Tournament to feel really strong about their chances to hold the first two rounds at Reed Arena.

“I told the seniors before the game, ‘You’re only guaranteed three games in the rest of your life. Tonight, the first game of the SEC Tournament and the first game of the NCAA Tournament,’” said Blair. “We were ready to play, but it just didn’t show.”

The Aggies will face off in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals against the winner of the 7-10 matchup between Tennessee and Arkansas on Friday at 5 pm inside Jacksonville’s Veterans Memorial Arena.

“I have never been that out-toughed before,” said Blair. “We just got physically whipped. It’s our job as coaches to go correct it. We’ve got the Tennessee-Arkansas winner up next, but we have to worry about A&M.”