To say Texas A&M women’s basketball has struggled recently would be an understatement.
A&M has lost its last nine games, with their last win coming on Jan. 23 against No. 11 Kentucky. Since then, the Aggies have failed to score more than 60 points in any of their contests.
In their 91-58 loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores Thursday night, the Maroon and White continued their streak.
“They play tough,” Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph said heading into the matchup. “It’s just the SEC Conference. They’ve been playing people really tough.”
When redshirt senior guard Aicha Coulibaly was ruled out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury, the Aggies needed someone to step up and fill the leadership void in Coulibaly’s absence.
Redshirt senior forward Lauren Ware answered the call. Since losing Coulibaly, Ware has averaged 9.9 points per game compared to her 5.9 points per game in 17 outings with Coulibaly on the court. Against the Commodores, she put up 16 points and nine rebounds.
The Bismarck, North Dakota native has earned the moniker “Little Joni” for her leadership and playstyle similarities to coach Joni Taylor. In her playing career at Alabama, Taylor blocked 103 shots in her career, good for the No. 7 spot all-time in Tuscaloosa. Ware, since transferring to A&M from Arizona, has recorded 98 blocks in the Maroon and White. In her entire career, she has accounted for 156 blocked shots.
On Thursday, Ware recorded two of the team’s seven blocks. She averages 1.8 blocks per game and ranks 45th in the country in the category. The Aggies rank 34th in the country in blocks per game, averaging 4.4 as of Feb. 25.
For Vanderbilt, it was sophomore F Khamil Pierre’s night. The Arizona native finished the night with 31 points, six rebounds and five assists in just 25 minutes. Pierre’s performance against A&M was not an anomaly, either. She is averaging 20.6 points, 9.7 rebounds and just under two assists per game this season.
Pierre is half of the Commodores’ dynamic duo. The other half is freshman G Mikayla Blakes, who was good for 18 points, three rebounds and five assists against the Aggies.
“Mikayla’s had a phenomenal freshman season,” Taylor said heading into the game. “She’s an outstanding player, does a lot of things well. … You can’t let someone like that get comfortable.”
For the Aggies, turnovers have proven to haunt them in their skid. A&M is now 7-15 when it has more turnovers than opponents. The Commodores forced 30 turnovers compared to the Aggies’ 10. Forty-one of Vanderbilt’s 91 points on the night came off of turnovers.
A&M will look to stop its slump and limit its turnovers in the last game of the regular season when they head home to Reed Arena to face the Arkansas Razorbacks during senior day on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
