The No. 16 Texas A&M women’s basketball team will take a trip to Athens, Georgia, for an SEC match against the unranked Georgia Bulldogs. The Aggies look to keep the strong play going as they are coming off back-to-back victories including a win over No. 25 Tennessee.
After back-to-back losses, A&M rebounded with consecutive wins that were led by dominant performances from All-American guard Chennedy Carter. Carter, who had missed seven games with an ankle injury, averaged 27.5 points in the victories as her play earned her the honor of SEC Co-Player of the Week.
Carter’s return to form could not have come at a better time for the Aggies, who are in a four-way fight for the third spot in the SEC standings. These last four games will decide how their postseason schedule will look, as a third-place or better finish in the SEC would get the Aggies a crucial double bye in the SEC Tournament.
In addition to Carter’s return, the Aggies have also seen an uptick in their free throw percentage and free throws attempted. In the Tennessee game, the Aggies made a season-high 28 free throws out of another season-high of 33 attempts.
The Bulldogs enter Thursday night’s contest with a middling 5-7 SEC record and a 14-11 overall record. Georgia has played one of the toughest schedules in the country that has included meetings against the current top two teams, South Carolina and Baylor. The Bulldogs have played better recently as they have won their last two games with their most recent game being an overtime win over Alabama 76-75 on Sunday.
In this season’s prior meeting between both teams, A&M managed a narrow 64-63 victory over Georgia as the Aggies relied on hitting some late free throws to hold off a late Georgia comeback. The Aggies were led in that game by guard N’dea Jones’s 21 point and 10 rebound performance as she was able to find success in the paint against Georgia’s frontcourt.
The Aggies struggled with ball control in their last meeting with Georgia as they allowed 16 turnovers and 19 points off of turnovers. Carter’s return to the guard position should help limit turnovers as well as lower the amount of fast break opportunities that Georgia will have.
The Aggies will also try to stop Georgia guard Gabby Connally, who has averaged 25 points per game in her three meetings with A&M, including the 20 she poured earlier this season.
The game will be streamed live on SEC Network+ at 6 p.m. on Thursday.