If March is when dreams come true, then late February is when dreams are forged — or ended before they can begin.
With Texas A&M women’s basketball listed in the Last Four Byes of ESPN’s latest bracketology and Auburn listed as the last team in, both squads walked into Neville Arena knowing something had to give.
In the end, it was the Aggie offense that couldn’t secure the resume boost for A&M as they fell 57-41 to Auburn in a loss that will push them deeper into the bubble.
Maroon and White and Silver Linings
If you would have given an Aggie fan a partial script of the game containing all of Auburn’s offensive stats and all of A&M’s defensive stats before tip-off, it would in all likelihood be satisfied and expect a road win for the Maroon & White.
Auburn’s offense, which averages just under 67 points a game, was held to 57 points and a mere 32% shooting percentage to go along with its 20 team turnovers.
The Tigers’ leading scorer, graduate guard Honesty Scott-Grayson, averages 17.8 points a game. The Aggie defense was able to limit her to just 2-14 from the field and 9 points total, while three Tigers each led the home squad in scoring with 10 points each.
But the Aggie offense proved that all of the above wasn’t enough for an A&M victory.
Turnover Turmoil
A&M ended the first half with 16 points and 18 turnovers. They finished the game with 29 turnovers, a season-high in that category, and only the fifth time the Aggies have posted more than 20 turnovers in a game this year.
That led to 22 Auburn points off of turnovers, and pair that with the Tigers’ 18-10 advantage in offensive rebounds — and 41-30 advantage on the boards as a whole — and that’s a statistical hole that was much too deep for the Aggies to claw out of with a 33% shooting performance from the floor.
Replacing Endyia Rogers
After A&M’s loss to LSU on Monday, sophomore forward Janiah Barker stated A&M was still learning how to play without their leading scorer graduate G Endyia Rogers, who suffered a knee injury in the Aggies’ road win over Kentucky on Feb. 11.
The early solution was senior G Kay Kay Green. She came into the game averaging 2.1 points a game, and halfway through the first quarter had 7 of the Aggies’ first 9 points as A&M took a 9-2 lead thanks to a 9-0 run after Auburn put up the first points of the afternoon.
But that proved to be the Aggies’ largest lead of the night, and Green went scoreless for the rest of the contest before fouling out in the final period.
Against Arkansas on Feb. 22, it was Barker who stepped up, putting up 16 points and 15 rebounds in the 73-67 win over the Razorbacks.
Barker was held to just two shot attempts against Auburn.
The Aggies may not need someone to take Rogers’ place every single game, but a different face must step up in her stead if A&M wants to be in the Big Dance for the first time since 2021 — because the WBIT is starting to knock on the Aggies’ door just a bit louder now.
