The Texas A&M women’s basketball team begins a daunting stretch of four road contests in five games Thursday night when it travels to face Georgia.
The Aggies (11-3, 1-0 SEC) are fresh off a thrilling second half comeback win over Vanderbilt, while the Lady Bulldogs (8-6, 0-1 SEC) dropped their conference opener to Missouri. Despite their record, head coach Gary Blair is not deceived by the challenge Georgia presents his team.
“Talent-wise, both teams are pretty much equal,” Blair said prior to the team’s departure Wednesday afternoon. “Yes, they’ve lost six games, but they’ve played a pretty good schedule and at the same time, they’re pretty young. The challenge is both of us lost more key players than any other team in the SEC, so both of us are going through the inexperience.”
Leading the Lady Bulldogs is sophomore forward Caylia Robinson who leads the team with 16.3 points per game. Her skills are some that Blair is aware of and gave high praise for.
“They have the Robinson kid who’s one of the best athletes in our league,” Blair said. “She’s just a scoring machine. Each team in the SEC has an impact player and Robinson is theirs.”
Although the Aggies are riding on a three-game winning streak, Blair noted that his team needs to play better from the start, as A&M has had to claw its way back from several early deficits and bad beginnings.
“We struggle with the sense of urgency that’s used to start a ball game. Can we make the adjustments and play harder to start a ball game? And that’s what we haven’t done with this team,” Blair said. “When you’ve got more talent than your opponent, you better not let them feel good about themselves early, particularly they’re coming off of a loss right now. We’re coming off of a great second half against Vanderbilt. I want to be able to start this game the same way.”
Blair added that the gameplans for both Georgia and Kentucky – whom the Aggies face next – have been set for several days by his assistants. He also emphasized that while he hopes their trip is a success that the players can grow as a team beyond the court.
“We know what we have to do against both teams. We’re staying on the road so we can have that complete experience since there’s no school,” Blair concluded. “I want to be out there on the road and think basketball. I want to be able to eat with them at dinner tonight and just sit there and talk about other things besides basketball. I want our kids to feel like we’re all in this together.”
The Aggies and Lady Bulldogs are set to tip-off at 6 p.m. from Stegeman Coliseum and the game will be aired on SEC Network Plus.
