The No. 16 Texas A&M women’s basketball team will open conference play on Sunday at home against Georgia. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m., and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.
The Aggies (10-3) come into this matchup trending up, as they are winners of three straight games. Owners of one of the toughest nonconference slates in the country, A&M enters SEC play healthy and with valuable big-game experience.
Courtney Walker, who leads the Aggies in scoring with 16.6 points per game, was recently named the SEC Player of the Week for the second time this season. Fellow senior Courtney Williams will also likely play a key role in this game as well as throughout the Aggies’ conference schedule.
Senior point guard Jordan Jones was injured and left the game in A&M’s victory over Prairie View A&M last Tuesday, and while she was most recently listed as day-to-day, her health will be pivotal in the Aggies’ success.
A&M has won all three of its SEC openers since they have been a part of the conference, and this year marks the fourth consecutive season that the Aggies have played their conference opener at the friendly confines of Reed Arena.
If the past two meetings between these two teams are any indication, this matchup will be an even one. Two years ago, the Aggies won 78-73 in overtime, while the Bulldogs won last year’s game 54-51.
Georgia lost their first game of the season, but have since won 11 in a row. The Bulldogs (12-1) received votes in both the USA TODAY and Associated Press rankings, and are playing excellent basketball under first-year head coach Joni Taylor. They sport three players averaging more than 10 points per game, which is the type of balance that has given the Aggies trouble in the past.
A&M head coach Gary Blair has talked all season about how the tough nonconference schedule will benefit the Aggies, and Sunday offers the first chance to witness the fruits of that labor.