With back to back three pointers to take the momentum within five with 3:31 to go; it just wasn’t enough as No. 19 Texas A&M women’s basketball ran out of gas falling to No. 10 Oregon Ducks 83-68, in the 2017 Preseason WNIT at Reed Arena Thursday evening.
A&M head coach Gary Blair said his squad gave the Ducks havoc to start the game, but mistake impeded the Aggies from upsetting Oregon.
“The better team showed their experience with five starters back,” Blair said. “We made the game chaotic in the first half, we overcome some foul problems. We had the all the momentum on the ball to start the second half. You cannot win the ballgame unless you have an inside game, and tonight we didn’t have that.”
The Ducks (3-0) made into a defensive stand still quick as sophomore forward Mallory McGwire had a block and a defensive rebound in the opening possession.The Aggies (2-1) drew blood first by getting the ball back after a defensive stop by junior forward Anriel Howard who also got the first points in the game with a layup.
Howard ended up with four rebounds alone in the first quarter. The game was then tied 4-4 thanks to a jumper from A&M freshman guard Chennedy Carter who had six points in the first quarter. The rest of the quarter was run by A&M as they sped out on a 10-2 run stretching the lead out to 14-5. The quarter was then put to an end by Aggie junior guard Danni Williams stretching the lead 18-13. The Aggies were 7-of-20 shooting from the field while dominating the boards 11 to 9.
“The first half we did a really great job, at containing them and having those adjustments really helped us keep pace for the most part, they play really well; we just concentrate more down the line.” Williams said.
The second quarter was a shootout between both teams as the first points weren’t even scored until a minute and a half into play. The Ducks eventually tied the score at 20 with a long three courtesy of senior guard Lexi Bando. Then it was back and forth as there were three lead changes, and three times each as both times sped up and down the Reed floor. A&M half ended leading 34-28 thanks to Williams who had a long three and a jumper to kill the Ducks momentum.
The Aggies outshot Oregon 50 percent to 43.8 percent from the field in the second quarter.
“We didn’t stay physical the whole ball game, we’re the team at home and we have to keep that way,” Blair said. “It’s one of those things where we have to stay up within the learning curve where we go back to the old drawing board.”
In the third quarter the Ducks made their adjustments and knew how to cause chaos for A&M early taking advantage of costly mistakes early. Oregon finally made their move as they came back and took their first lead in the quarter 35-34 thanks to sophomore forward Ruthy Hebard. Then down the stretch the momentum was even again between both sides as they against blows on either ends of the court keeping the score 46-45 in Oregon’s favor with three minutes left. After that, it was all Ducks as they brought the momentum on a 11-4 run; controlling the score 57-49. The Aggies were outshot 55.6% to 23.8% from the field.
Heading into the fourth quarter, Oregon kept up stepping on the gas pedal extending their lead 60-51. The Aggies had one last push left in them as they held the Ducks to just seven points half way through the quarter going on an 8-0 run making the score 67-62. But that was when A&M lost control of the pace as everything fell into place for the Ducks as they pulled away on a 10-2 run leading 77-64 and eventually ending the game 83-68.
The Aggies had four players in double-figures led by Carter having 23 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. Williams had 17 points and four rebounds. Howard and Khaalia Hillsman both had 10 points.
A&M is back on the court next Wednesday November 22nd against Little Rock University at Reed Arena at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed nationally on the SEC Network+