The No. 10 Texas A&M women’s basketball team (16-4, 4-2 SEC) lost 54-51 Thursday night against No.22 Georgia 17-3 (4-3), at the Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia.
The Bulldogs, who owned a seventeen game home winning streak and the nations forth best scoring defense going into the game, jumped out to a quick start Monday night, hitting their first three shots from the field. A&M used two point buckets from three different players to bring the game to within one, 8-9, at the 12:26 mark.
The Aggies received a timely three pointer from junior guard Jordan Jones with 7:34 remaining but Georgia’s Mackenzie Engram, a freshman forward, sank a three pointer of her own on the ensuing possession to hold the A&M deficit at 9, 20-11.
Engram continued to spoil any momentum the Aggies could generate. After A&M pieced together a 6-0 run, Engram responded with a layup. A few possessions later, another made three point attempt. Engram led all scorers in the game with 16 points and added seven rebounds to her total.
The first half concluded with Georgia up, 27-21, over the Aggies.
After Georgia’s Marjorie Butler, a junior guard, opened the second half with a three pointer for the Lady Bulldogs, Texas A&M’s Achiri Ade, a senior forward, and Chelsea Jennings, a junior guard, led an Aggie charge over a four minute span, reeling off eight points, four from each player.
Jones hit another three point shot at the 9:47 mark, this one from in front of the A&M bench, to tie the game up for the first time since tip off, 37-37.
At what was a do or die moment in the game, A&M’s Courtney Walker, a junior guard, made two, two point jumpers in addition to a Courtney Williams, a junior forward, made free throw to reel the Aggies back into the game, down one, 47-48 with 3:30 left to play. Walker led all A&M scorers with 12 points.
After the Aggies gave up two Georgia layups, A&M’s Ade converted a quick layup of her own to keep the Aggies within striking distance at 49-52, with 1:16 remaining.
Texas A&M controlled the basketball, still down three, with 32 seconds remaining in regulation. Williams then hit, what coach Blair, thought was a game tying three point shot, with 18 seconds remaining. Official review confirmed, however that Williams toe was on the line, leaving the Aggies down one point.
The Aggies fouled on the Georgia in-bounds pass, stopping the clock and sending the Lady Bulldogs, to the free throw line for two shots. The Lady Bulldogs converted both free throws, extending their lead back to three. A&M had one last chance to tie the game, but Jordan Jones missed a game tying three point shot as time expired in Stegeman Coliseum.
A&M Assistant Coach Bob Starkey was disappointed with the team’s inability to find other ways to score when mid-range jumpers did not drop early on.
“You’re gonna have those nights,” he said. “Unfortunately, we seem to be having a lot of them. But when you have those nights, there are some things you have to do. You’ve got to find a way to get to the free throw line. We did not do that… You give Georgia credit. I thought their zone packed it in and I thought we settled a little bit. But we certainly didn’t get the ball to the paint or get to the free throw line.”
The Southeastern Conference slate does not get any easier for the Aggies as they take on No.1 South Carolina Monday night at 6p.m. in Columbia, South Carolina.