Moving up to No. 4 in the AP Poll after an 82-71 victory over TCU Sunday, the Texas A&M women’s basketball team will end its two-game stint in Dallas-Forth Worth with a game at SMU Tuesday night in Moody Coliseum.
One of just 15 unbeaten teams around the country, A&M (9-0) is off to its best start since a 12-0 run to open the 2008-09 season, and the Aggies will look to match Georgia for the nation’s longest active winning streak at 10 games.
Junior guard Courtney Walker will look to extend her streak of consecutive double-digit scoring appearances to 23 after posting 21 points against the Horned Frogs. Junior forward Courtney Williams will enter the contest fresh off her first double-double of the season, in which she dropped 12 points and tied a career high with 12 rebounds.
Ranked No. 8 on A&M’s all-time assist list, junior point guard Jordan Jones leads an Aggie defense that ranks No. 19 in the country, is No. 3 in defensive field goal percentage and leads the nation in defending three-pointers, holding opponents to just 19.5 percent behind the arc. Jones is also the SEC’s assist leader and ranks No. 7 nationally in assists.
Coming off a 77-42 loss against Arizona State, the Mustangs (4-4) also faced the Horned Frogs earlier this year and lost a 10-point decision 73-63. A&M leads SMU 25-17 in the all-time series and has won the last three meetings. With five freshmen, SMU’s squad is the youngest in the American Athletic Conference and returns the fewest-ever letterwinners under head coach Rhonda Rompola.
Freshman Destynee Hives-McCray leads SMU with 8.4 rebounds per game and is third on the team in scoring with 10.4 points per contest. The Mustangs’ tallest player is 6-foot-3 freshman Alicia Froling, who leads the team with 16 total blocks. In contrast, the Aggies have three players 6-foot-3 or taller on their roster.
Tipoff against the Mustangs is at 7 p.m. and fans can listen to the action live on KZNE 1150 AM. The Aggies will return to Reed Arena at 1:30 p.m. Saturday against Houston.