Texas A&M women’s basketball tipped off its 11th game of the 2024-25 season on Monday searching for its fifth win at home against the Texas Southern Tigers. Entering the evening, the Aggies were 11-3 all-time against the Tigers, winning the last six meetings. After taming the Tigers 85-60, they advanced to 6-5 before the start of conference play in January.
After a disappointing 89-50 loss against the Kansas State Wildcats, in which the Maroon and White had their lowest scoring performance of the season, the team bounced back with a significant night that highlighted senior forward Lauren Ware, who corralled a career-high 18 rebounds combined with a double-double, and sophomore guard Solè Williams, who finished with a career-high 17 points.
“We knew coming into this game that [Texas Southern] is one of the top recruiting teams in the country,” Ware said. “We knew rebounding was going to be a big focus for us in order to win this game, so I think all of us made an effort to crash the boards offensively and box them out. I think we executed that part of the game plan well.”
Coach Joni Taylor said she was proud of Ware’s performance and thought she did what was needed to win this game, even though collecting rebounds would be tricky.
“Coming into this game, Texas Southern was the No. 2 rebounding team in the entire country, so that was a huge concern from us,” Taylor said. “Lauren just came out there with a mindset of owning the glass, and I thought she did a really good job of putting herself into a position to get some easy baskets and score when we needed her to.”
A sloppy first quarter start saw both squads miss a combined eight shots to start the night before sophomore G Janae Kent put A&M on the board first with a layup followed by senior G Aicha Coulibaly connecting from the charity stripe, drilling two made free throws. A 6-0 run saw Ware and Williams score their first points with layups, putting A&M up 10-4.
The Tigers’ offense woke up after sophomore G Aylasia Fantroy and senior F Treasure Thompson added four points to the scoreboard before senior G Sahara Jones canned a three to put the Aggies up by seven. Another 3-point shot by the Tigers G Courtlyn Loudermill began the start of a 9-0 run where sophomore G Aaliyah Henderson connected underneath with two layups, along with junior F Jaida Belton, tying the game with a third layup.
Quickly after Texas Southern went on a comfortable run that pressured the A&M offense, redshirt junior F Jada Malone powered through traffic in the paint and asserted herself with five straight points. Jones capped it off with a basket to give A&M a five-point lead before Malone tallied the final points of the first quarter to finish with nine points.
The Aggies turned the ball over seven times but shot 55.6% from the field, going 1-for-2 from three-point land. There were only three trips to the free-throw line, with the Tigers not making a single trip until the seven-minute mark of the second quarter. A&M finished the night with 23 turnovers.
“With the different combinations we’re playing, we’ve got to be better in sync in terms of what we’re doing, and we’ve just to value the basketball a ton more, especially when we sub and have different people,” Taylor said.
In the second quarter, the A&M offense began to crash the glass and make its way to the free throw line 14 times, converting 11 shots into points. Williams, Kent and Ware cashed in after Texas Southern paid for its poor defense. The 6-foot-3 graduate forward from Marietta, Georgia, Amirah Abdur-Rahim, also played a key role in the chemistry on the court, which was significant to the 22-4 run.
Abdur-Rahim made three straight layups after there were five fast-break opportunities that the Aggies took advantage of, combined with a made jumper before Jones closed out the half by attacking the Tigers’ defense, giving the Aggies a 16-point lead.
A&M only outscored Texas Southern 23-20, but Coulibaly picked up her play with nine points in the third. Opening the quarter, A&M went on a 5-0 run with nothing but nylon for Ware and Williams before a 5-0 response from Loudermill and Fantroy.
Coulibaly clapped back with a jumper and a 3-pointer with help from Williams, both combining for the next 11 points. Freshman G Taliyah Parker and redshirt junior G Kyndall Hunter registered their first buckets of the game from the free throw line and within the arc, topping off the quarter at 68-49.
There was no looking back for the Aggies as they led by 22 points in the second half and outscored Texas Southern 17-11 in the fourth quarter. Williams posted six points in the fourth quarter to help boost the Aggies to another victory.
“I think I just went into the game with nothing to lose, just trying to make sure I feed everyone else before I feed myself,” Williams said. “I feel like throughout this whole journey. It’s kind of been up and down for me, so just staying calm has really helped a lot.”
A&M will take on Mississippi Valley State at 1 p.m. on Thursday at Reed Arena before opening up conference play against No. 18 Tennessee.
