Amid a search for answers in a post-redshirt senior guard Aicha Couliably end to the season, turnovers and offensive ineptness doomed Texas A&M women’s basketball in a 65-52 loss to Auburn.
The Aggies found tough sledding after evening the score 6-6 in the first quarter as constant missed layups and wide-open shots plagued any chances of gaining extra steam once the Tigers gained their edge.
Every shot seemed to be just slightly off the mark for the Maroon and White, who were outscored 14-6 in the second quarter. Defensive rebounding, however, saved coach Joni Taylor’s squad from having the score get too out of hand before the halftime buzzer.
Unfortunately, this productivity would not continue into the third quarter, with second-chance points becoming a luxury as Auburn grew its lead to as many as 24 points.
The Aggies looked to sophomore G Solé Williams to fill the void left behind by Couliably. Williams delivered admirably with her contribution of 21 points, including strong 3-point shooting throughout the second half.
As for redshirt senior forward Lauren Ware, she made sure to continue her second-best block percentage in the conference, sending a couple of potential scores packing to sit right where her average settles at 1.9 blocks per game. In the waning minutes of the game, however, her aggressiveness led to her fouling out on top of an already depleted roster.
Williams made five 3-pointers in her scoring efforts, but in such a deep hole, the Aggies were only able to have one other player reach double digits. The Tigers had no such luck in the 3-point game, with their lone make coming from freshman G Yuting Deng. The 3-point shooting was essential for Deng and the Tigers, as their field goal percentage neared the 50% mark.
Scoring needed to come from somewhere else in such dire straits for the Aggies, and that’s where sophomore G Janae Kent came in. Kent helped lead Taylor’s crew with 15 points, stepping up to the plate when it was necessary in the second half. A strong display of three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter showed optimism for a possible late-game comeback. Though the Aggies were unable to snag a victory, Kent proved to be a viable option to pick up the slack left in Couliably’s absence for the rest of the season.
Constricting defense from Auburn put A&M in a bind that it could not seem to break out of, and with only eight players available for Thursday’s game, almost all of those Aggies found themselves deep in foul trouble. A total of 21 turnovers made things next to impossible to come back from and ultimately led to the demise of the Maroon and White’s chances.
The third quarter was much more productive for Williams and Co., scoring four more than they did in the whole first half. But the increased efficiency didn’t hold too much value thanks to solid defense from the Tigers.
Auburn had four players go over double digits against the outmatched A&M defense, with graduate F DeYona Gaston producing the most in an 18-point performance, including a reverse layup from a no-look pass by Deng.
This loss adds to a now-four-game skid that has puts A&M in jeopardy of losing a spot in the SEC tournament, as it now sits bottom four in the conference standings. A win against then-No.11 Kentucky on Jan. 23 looked to change the trajectory of the season, but with three straight losses by over 10 points, it would take another jolt of energy to do some timely damage control.
The Aggies return to action on Sunday, Feb. 9 against Missouri at 3 p.m.
