With a win for No.19 Texas A&M women’s basketball over the Kentucky Wildcats on Thursday at the Memorial Coliseum, will allow the Aggies to clinch the third seed in the Southeastern Conference tournament.
The Aggies are coming off two straight wins against Tennessee and Florida. The last time A&M and Kentucky faced off was at Reed arena where the Aggies just edged out the Wildcats 73-71. Both teams come into the matchup with 10-4 vying for the third seed in the SEC with the tournament just a week away.
A&M is coming off a win against Florida in which sophomore guard Kayla Wells led the team in scoring. Wells had 24 points, her second straight game of 20-plus points following a career high of 29 points against Tennessee. Sophomore center Ciera Johnson had a 20-point performance as well with 21 points of her own, a career high.
Wells said she recognizes the importance of this game and looks to capitalize on the moment.
“It’s fun to play in games like this,” Wells said to 12thman.com “This is the type of game me and my teammates live for. We’re going to prepare and go out there and play hard.”
The Aggies are coming in this next matchup hot winning their two previous matchups by 17 against Tennessee and 18 points against Florida, respectively. The Wildcats, on the other hand, are on a six-game win streak with their last loss coming against South Carolina January 27th.. Since then, the Wildcats picked up big wins against South Carolina and LSU.
Kentucky is led by star freshman Rhyne Howard. Howard played for the U-18 Women’s national team leading them to a gold medal and was named tournament MVP. Howard averages 16.7 points per game this season.
A win against Kentucky on Thursday would clinch the three seed providing a very important double-bye for the SEC tournament. If Missouri loses to Arkansas clinches a top-four spot regardless if A&M wins or loses.
The Aggies will take on the Wildcats on Thursday at the Memorial Coliseum. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. and will be televised on the SEC Network.