The Texas A&M women’s basketball team will return home this week where the weather is a bit nicer, at least inside of Reed Arena. After back-to-back losses against Iowa State and Kansas State on the road, the Aggies’ home record of 8-5 looks inviting.
The Aggies will face Oklahoma State University tonight, after a dismal shooting performance over the weekend helped No. 5 KSU usher in an easy 88-49 victory against A&M in Manhattan, Kan. The Aggies shot just 32 percent from the floor against the top team in the Big 12.
“Once again we got into a game where we couldn’t score,” said A&M Head Coach Peggie Gillom.
However, going into the match against OSU (6-18, 2-11 Big 12), Gillom said there is still hope that the Aggies (10-14, 3-10 Big 12) can enter the final stretch of the 2003 season with an added sense of urgency. With three games remaining in the season before the Big 12 tournament tips off, the Aggies see their remaining contests against OSU, Baylor and Missouri as potential victories.
“The story to this season is not written yet,” said A&M Assistant Coach Steve Curtis. “We have two more games at home, and one on the road which are all winnable.”
Only OSU and Nebraska are below the Aggies in the Big 12 standings, and facing OSU could prove fruitful and give A&M an added boost of confidence with a win. As regular season play winds down, Curtis said the Aggies are looking to improve their seeding for the end of season Big 12 tournament by staying focused and finding ways to win their remaining games.
“We told them yesterday in practice that we’re playing for our seed in the Big 12 tournament at this point,” Curtis said. “When our kids are focused, we have shown that we can play well and hang with the top teams in our conference.”
The Aggies will close out the year the leadership of junior guard Toccara Williams to lean on. Williams leads the team in scoring (12.7), steals (107), assists (131) and is second on the team in rebounding (5.1).
OSU, who is coming off an 83-48 loss to No. 8 Texas Tech over the weekend, is led by 6-2(6-foot-2?) junior center Trisha Skibbe. Skibbe leads her team in points (17.0) and rebounding (7.4). The Cowgirls will be playing for their first conference road win of the season as they come to College Station, and are in danger of being swept by the Aggies for the first time since the 1996-97 season.
“It should be a good old fashioned game where two programs are trying to move upward and improve,” said OSU Assistant Coach Rob Edmisson. “We’re trying to keep our kids excited about playing and the prospect of improving.”
Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight at Reed Arena.