There is no doubt the season the Texas A&M women’s basketball team is having has been quite underwhelming. However, there may be some light at the end of the tunnel for the 2023 season.
The maroon and white are coming off a 72-66 home loss Sunday, Feb 5, to the undefeated No. 3 LSU Tigers. Despite another loss, Aggie fans can walk away with something to smile about after an impressive performance from one of the nation’s best.
A&M will hit the road this weekend for its second matchup of the year against Mississippi State on Sunday, Feb 12, in Starkville, Miss. On Thursday, Feb 10, A&M coach Joni Taylor, along with fifth year forward Aaliyah Patty and freshman forward Janiah Barker, sat down with the media to discuss the upcoming game.
Here are some takeaways:
Disappointed but motivated
Despite the loss on Sunday, the players in the Aggie locker room have some momentum to build off of. The effort and defensive display shown in the second half, against a team that has not lost a game all season, had to have been encouraging for a team looking for any type of hope. Taylor said her players are feeling the way she wants them to be feeling following the game.
“They’re disappointed, but they also are smart enough to look back on it and see the score the first time we played [LSU] and see where they’ve gotten better,” Taylor said.
A 6 point loss is an improvement from the 40 point loss earlier in the season.
Closing in on 1,000 points
Patty will only need 2 points Sunday when the Aggies face the Bulldogs to reach 1,000 points for her college career. Patty spent her first two years in college at Ohio State before transferring in for the 2020-21 season. Though the Aggies main focus is beating the Bulldogs on Sunday, Patty was not afraid to show her excitement for reaching this milestone.
“It’s a real big milestone for me,” Patty said. “I’m just excited to be able to share that moment with my teammates, my coaches and everybody I’m with right now.”
Only 11 points were needed from Patty on Sunday to reach 1,000 points. Unfortunately for Aggie fans in attendance, she only scored 9. Barring something unforeseen happening , Patty should reach this milestone before making it back to College Station.
“We are excited for her and it’s something that she should be really, really proud of,” Taylor said.
Beating the Bulldogs
The Aggies should have their hands full when they land in Starkville as the Bulldogs, 6-5 in conference play, are coming off two important wins against Tennessee and Florida. A&M has also been defeated once by the Bulldogs in Reed Arena. In that game graduate guard Ahlana Smith scored 18 points, shooting 8-for-11 from the field.
“She wasn’t missing,” Barker joked about Smith.
The main difference in the game Sunday won’t be how the Aggies play, but who is playing for the Aggies now that everyone, except senior center Sydnee Roby, is back from injury. However, A&M will not be the only team in this matchup with players back who were missing.
“There’s some things that are going to look the same and there’s some areas where it’s going to look entirely different because they’ve gotten additional pieces as well,” Taylor said. “They weren’t at full strength when they came here in January, and they’ve got some players back that are making them better too, so you have to take a little bit of it and tweak it and then also approach an entirely different game.”
The Aggies and Bulldogs will face off at 2 p.m. on Sunday and the game can be watched on the SEC Network.