Aggies knock off No. 21 Alabama to stop six-game skid, 72-69
Game #19: Texas A&M 72, No. 21 Alabama 69
Records: Texas A&M (9-10, 2-8), Alabama (20-5, 6-5)
Box Score
What a way to snap a skid.
After six straight SEC losses, Texas A&M made its way back to the win column with a 72-69 victory over No. 21 Alabama.
It marks A&M's first defeat of a top-25 foe since then-No. 11 Kentucky came to town on Jan. 23, 2025.
A feeling of relief and joy fell over the Aggies when Lauren Ware swatted away the Crimson Tide's last-ditch effort from beyond the arc. A&M had spent the last 32 days in misery, but still prepared as if a breakthrough was coming.
Sunday's win served as an opportunity to celebrate trust in the process.
"I'm super happy for our team," A&M head coach Joni Taylor said. "They deserve this. They worked for this really hard."
Last time out, A&M hung around with a short-handed Gamecocks team, following their gameplan and posting one of their many encouraging efforts in conference play.
They picked up right where they left off.
"I think we've had momentum since Missouri," Taylor said. "It's slowly been getting better. Our players trust in the process, believing in us and each other. They are showing up every day and blocking out the noise."
The connection between Ny'Ceara Pryor and Ware was seen early and often as the veteran duo found some offense early. With her minute restriction easing, Ware rounded into form, contributing 13 points and a two-way presence.
The Aggies slightly separated themselves in the first but were doomed by five straight misses from the free-throw line that could have stretched the gap. They went on to shoot 31 times from the charity stripe, cashing in on 21.
Half of the Aggies' 20-second-quarter points came from Pryor and Fatmata Janneh as the Maroon & White walked into halftime with a five-point lead.
Defensively, the Aggies were finding success there, too. Taylor's group held the Crimson Tide's leading scorer, Jessica Timmons, to just two first-half points.
"Credit to Texas A&M. I really have no words," Alabama head coach Kristy Curry said. "At some point, players have to understand and have self-awareness. I don't have answers, and it's not my job to have them when we have done all the things we have in the past 48 hours and our players don't respond."
Timmons began to heat up in the second half, hitting one of the Tide's 3-pointers out of the break. She finished with 19, but the Tide never rose too high.
In a game with 13 lead changes, Pryor and the Ags kept dealing blows as she recorded her 17th double-digit output while also adding six rebounds, four steals and turning the ball over just once.
Pryor finished with a game-high 20 points.
It was the cleanest game the Aggies have logged, by far, registering a season-low seven turnovers.
"The last time I was in here, I talked about how I need to take care of the ball," Pryor said. "I had one turnover today and got the ball in my hands a lot. That starts with me.
"A great team like Alabama can capitalize on turnovers, but today, we took care of the ball. I'm grateful and excited for this team because we've been putting in the work, and it hasn't been showing."
The clean performance carried weight in the metrics.
Once donning an Alabama jersey, Taylor grabbed her first Quadrant 1 victory of the season over her alma mater after previously going 0-8 in that regard. Sitting at No. 92 in the NET, the Aggies will make a jump, but there's still way more work to be done.
Yet, the Aggies have more big opportunities to do so with the fourth-hardest schedule in the country.
Up next, the Maroon & White look to carry momentum at No. 16 Kentucky, hoping Sunday’s breakthrough is the start of a late-season push rather than a one-off result.
