Carter, Wells score 20 as No. 24 A&M takes down No. 14 Kentucky in final seconds
In their first Top 25 matchup in almost a month, No. 24 Texas A&M (16-4, 5-2 SEC) extended their win streak to five after defeating No. 15 Kentucky (17-4, 4-3 SEC), 73-71, in a women’s basketball game Sunday afternoon at Reed Arena.
Texas A&M’s starting five stepped onto the court with explosive energy, ready to dominate Kentucky’s notoriously stout defense. With a winning streak and a potential upset on the line, the Aggies struck first and, without any substitutions, ended the first period with a 19-11 lead.
As the game progressed, the Wildcats gained momentum and made it increasingly difficult for Texas A&M to maintain their lead. Although Kentucky failed to surpass A&M once in the game, their 11 three-pointers and 34 rebounds forced the Aggies to stay engaged well beyond halftime.
“You can imagine what the game is going to be like when we go back to Lexington,” said head coach Gary Blair. “It is like this every time we play Kentucky.”
Texas A&M outscored Kentucky 32-20 in the paint, but the Wildcats continued to pose a threat on both sides of the court. Maci Morris and Rhyne Howard led Kentucky's offensive effort with 43 combined points, including nine three-pointers.
“We really focused on paint points this game because we knew that Maci Morris was a beast, especially driving,” said Texas A&M guard Kayla Wells. “We wanted to stop her driving and slow their offense down.”
Kentucky fired more shots than Texas A&M throughout the entire forty minutes, but their 39.7% field goal shooting wasn’t enough to match the 52.1% accuracy that kept the Aggies in the lead.
Following her third career game-winning shot in Thursday’s match against Auburn, Chennedy Carter had a strong game from behind the arc. The star point-guard nailed 80% of her three-pointers and tallied 20 points to finish the game as one of A&M’s three double-digit scorers.
Ciera Johnson made explosive plays when given the ball, adding a career-high 19 points and six rebounds. Kayla Wells notched 20 points and was A&M’s biggest asset from the charity stripe. The 6’0” sophomore made all of her free-throws in a game where her teammates struggled from behind the line, sinking just 17-of-26, including the seven made by Wells.
Though the Aggies struggled in free-throw shooting, their dominance in other areas kept them alive despite Kentucky’s ability to tie the game on four separate occasions.
By the fourth quarter, Texas A&M was sharing the ball consistently, but the Aggie women were unable to put the game away. In a battle with less than one second remaining, the Aggies regained control of the ball and solidified their win over the 15th ranked team in the country. Coach Blair noted that incredibly close conferences games won’t be going away any time soon.
“It’s a W. Those are five wins in a row, and every one of them is going to be just like this,” Blair said. “We’re not that good, but we’re pretty damn good when it counts.”
Looking ahead, the Aggies will fight to keep their win streak alive as they remain at Reed Arena on Thursday, January 31st at 7:30 pm for a rematch against Vanderbilt.
Special thanks to Mac Resource Computers for their sponsorship of all women's basketball content produced throughout the season at TexAgs.com! For the seventh consecutive year, all WBB content will be available to you for free!