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Texas A&M women’s basketball team loses third straight with Senior Day defeat to Alabama

Sunday afternoon’s women’s basketball battle was a barnburner, but the Aggies’ 16-point second-half comeback was ultimately all for naught.

Sunday afternoon’s SEC women’s basketball battle between Texas A&M and Alabama was a barnburner, but the Aggies’ double-digit second-half comeback was ultimately all for naught as they lost to the Crimson Tide.

Alabama (23-8, 10-6 SEC) defeated Texas A&M (18-11, 6-10) by a final score of 78-71 at Reed Arena on Senior Day. The Crimson Tide led by as many as 16 points with 3:56 left in the second quarter and 14 with 2:33 remaining in the third period.

The Aggies went on a 22-4 run over seven minutes to take a 63-59 advantage. However, Texas A&M was outscored 19-8 over the final 4:56 to lose its third game in a row to conclude the regular season.

Senior guard Aicha Coulibaly tallied a team-high 19 points on 9-of-13 field goal attempts. The Aggies outscored Alabama 37-7 in bench points, which was a season-high.

Texas A&M will play Mississippi State (21-10, 8-8) on Thursday at 11 a.m. CT in the second round of the SEC Tournament from Greenville, South Carolina.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.

Watch: Highlights from the Texas A&M Womens lost to Vanderbilt

Watch the best plays from the Aggies’ game against Vanderbilt on Thursday night

Texas A&M battled back to take a lead late in the fourth quarter but ultimately fell 49-45 to Vanderbilt at home. In a game where points were hard to come by in the absence of the leading scorer Endyia Rogers was sorely missed.

Both teams are hovering around the .500 mark in SEC play, and both needed this win to improve their seeding in the NCAA tournament at the end of the season. The game turned out to be a defensive battle, but they once again fell victim to numerous turnovers late in the game.

“They were unforced, rushed. We’ve got to manage the game better at that point. We didn’t connect on some fast break opportunities. We also have to know when to pull it out and make them guard us. We had done a good job of taking the lead and we were running some stuff that they had struggled in the fourth quarter to defend and then we just turned it over. Then they went on a 10-0 run to finish the game.”

Going forward they will need to find some offense with Rogers out and the turnovers will need to drop drastically in key situations. Below you can see some of the best plays from the game.

Watch: Highlights from the Texas A&M win over Kentucky

Watch the best plays from the Aggies’ game against Kentucky on Sunday afternoon

Texas A&M is looking to make a push to make a run in the SEC tournament en route to a NCAA tournament bid. Sunday was another step toward that goal as the Aggies passed another test given to them. Coach Joni Taylor always preaches that they will keep getting the same test until they pass it.

This is the first time this season that A&M won back-to-back road games in SEC play. After beating Ole Miss in Oxford, the Aggies had a chance to double up on the road and they proved to be the better team when they stepped off the court in Lexington. They went to Kentucky and beat up the Wildcats for a 61-44 win.

The Aggies are now 17-6 overall and one game away from doubling up on their win total from last season and 5-5 in SEC play with six games left before the SEC tournament starts. They will get a chance to go north of .500 for the first time in conference play.

Below are some of the best plays from the game on Sunday.

Everything Rogers and Ware had to say after the loss to Mississippi State

Here’s what Texas A&M players Endyia Rogers & Lauren Ware had to say after the Aggies’ frustrating lost to Mississippi State on Sunday afternoon.

The Texas A&M Aggies (15-6, 3-5 SEC) fell to the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs (19-5, 6-3 SEC) at Reed Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Turnovers and fouls were the downfall of the Aggies in their 74-63 loss to the visitors. After a blazing fast start jumping out to an 11-2 lead A&M cooled off drastically and started getting extremely sloppy with the ball. They literally threw away the game to the tune of 22 turnovers and a majority of those were unforced.

The message at halftime was to slow down to eliminate the turnovers and get the ball into the paint.

“She just said we’re fine and we need to stop turning the ball over. We saw what we got when we stopped turning the ball over.”

– Rogers

“They switched up zone and man throughout the game. When we went into zone, Joni said we took a lot of threes in the second quarter. I think we took eight which is a lot for us. The guards did a good job of slowing the game down, penetrating, and finding the inside.”

– Ware

Below, you can watch the full post-game presser Q&A with Endyia Rogers & Lauren Ware.

Texas A&M will be back on the road to face Ole Miss in Oxford on February 8 at 6:30 PM CT.

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Everything Joni Taylor had to say after loss to Mississippi State

Here’s what Texas A&M coach Joni Taylor had to say after the Aggies’ frustrating lost to Mississippi State on Sunday afternoon.

The Texas A&M Aggies (15-6, 3-5 SEC) fell to the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs (19-5, 6-3 SEC) at Reed Arena on Sunday afternoon.

The second issue was the fouls. It seemed, especially late, that the Aggies didn’t see a foul they didn’t like. If was frustrating for the fans to watch, then I can only imagine how Coach Joni Taylor felt watching it in real time. She pointed out in the post-game that those two issues are just things that can’t happen against good teams and expect to win.

“When you’re playing a team that’s that good, you can’t give them the basketball, and I just think because of our turnovers in that stretch where we needed to be settled, and we needed to be in time and score, it never felt that way, and so we’ve got to take better care of the basketball now some of the fouls obviously were us at the end fouling but we sent them to the line way too many times.”

Below, you can watch the full post-game presser Q&A with Coach Taylor

Texas A&M will be back on the road to face Ole Miss in Oxford on February 8 at 6:30 PM CT.

Watch: Highlights from the Texas A&M lost to the Mississippi State Bulldogs

Watch the best plays from the Aggies’ game against Mississippi State on Sunday afternoon

Texas A&M started off hot jumping out to an 11-2 lead before the first time out was called. The Aggies continued to maintain that through the first quarter, but as the game went on, Mississippi State clawed their way back in to gain momentum. A&M suffered from so many unforced errors and had a staggering 22 turnovers combined with 21 fouls.

The disparity between the two teams at the foul line was a very telling story. The Aggies only attempted nine free throws while the Bulldogs made 22-29 on the night, leading to their eventual 74-63 win over A&M. Even though they made more shots and out-rebounded Mississippi State, the fouls were just too much to overcome.

“When you’re playing a team that’s that good, you can’t give them the basketball, and I just think because of our turnovers in that stretch where we needed to be settled, and we needed to be in time and score, it never felt that way, and so we’ve got to take better care of the basketball now some of the fouls obviously were us at the end fouling but we sent them to the line way too many times.”

In the end, there were too many self-inflicted wounds and Coach Joni Taylor will need to find a way to get her team to be more consistent if they want to hit their goals at the end of the season.

Watch: Highlights from Texas A&M’s 69-67 victory over Missouri

Watch the best plays from the Aggies’ 69-67 victory for their first SEC road win of the season.

The moves coach Joni Taylor made in the offseason are paying major dividends. Her team is tough and all surpassed last year’s win total overall in SEC play. They crossed another test this past game by winning their first road game in league play this year after defeating Missouri 69-67 on Thursday night.

They were led by transfers Aicha Coulibaly and Lauren Ware. Together, they made several timely buckets down the stretch as the Missouri Tigers mounted a strong comeback. Coulibaly struggled from the field but her major contribution came on the offensive boards with five rebounds leading both teams in that category. Ware had an extremely efficient night, going 10-13 for a career-high 22 points and nine rebounds, just missing out on a double-double.

Texas A&M currently sits in the middle of the pack at 3-3 in SEC play with 10 games left on the schedule. No one can predict the future, but the Aggies are in a good position to make a move into the top three teams in the league and enter the Top 25. Below, you can see some of the top plays from the Aggie’s rousing road triumph over the Missouri Tigers.

Report: Texas A&M Athletic Department begins search to replace Ross Bjork as AD

After former Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork departed for The Ohio State University on Jan. 16, the Aggies have officially begun their search for his replacement.

According to a report from Alex Miller of The Eagle, Texas A&M President Mark Welsh has formed a seven-member committee to find its next director of athletics within four to six weeks. R.C. Slocum was named the interim athletic director on Jan. 22.

“Texas A&M is a world-class university with a strong commitment to athletics excellence and the greatest fans in the world,” Welsh said in a statement. “We’re committed to maintaining the momentum of our athletics programs and selecting the next director of athletics is a critical part of that effort. I’m grateful to the committee members for volunteering their time for this important task and am confident that, with the help of the search firm, the committee will identify candidates who align with our core values and who are dedicated to the continued success of our student-athletes and outstanding athletic programs.”

Per Miller, the committee includes baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle, women’s basketball coach Joni Taylor, Welsh’s chief of staff Susan Ballabina, deputy athletic director Joe Fields, faculty athletic representative and professor Paul Batista and respective former chairs of the 12th Man Foundation’s Board of Trustees, Chris Cooper & David Dunlap.

“I want a great leader, man,” Schlossnagle told The Eagle. “The best athletic director I ever worked for (had a) philosophy (that was), ‘My job is to support the head coaches. No. 1, my job is to support the head coaches and the student-athletes. My job is to give the head coaches every resource they need to be successful and then hold them accountable and have a relationship with them.'”

According to Miller, Schlossnage volunteered for the role and has already received feedback from foot

ball coach Mike Elko, men’s basketball coach Buzz Williams, women’s golf coach Garrod Chadwell and women’s soccer coach G Guerrieri.

“It’s an honor to serve Texas A&M in any way that I can, and I’m filled with pride by the opportunity to lead this search committee,” Dunlap stated. “President Welsh has pulled together an incredible group of individuals who will recommend dynamic, highly qualified prospects who will serve our university, coaches and student-athletes with integrity, respect and a relentless drive for excellence. I’m eager to get to work.”

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.

‘We’ve got to make sure that everything is tough for them’ Williams & Jones answers questions in preview of the Missouri game

Here’s what Texas A&M players Sole Williams and Sahara Jones had to say during the Missouri matchup preview.

Texas A&M (14-4, 2-3) will be on the road to face the Missouri Tigers (11-8, 2-4) on Thursday night.

The Aggies have needed others to step up as they get deeper into SEC play and are dealing with a few injuries. Senior Sahara Jones has stepped up and has a very smooth game that translates well to what Coach Joni Taylor asks her team to do. She touched upon how she has been able to hit a groove in the recent games after starting a little slow.

“…been in the gym getting up shots and now they’re just finally falling which is good for me and it’s also good for my team so we can get points on the board of course and so like my teammates won’t always feel that the pressure is on them to score now they like have some relief so I’m really happy about that”

Below, you can watch the full presser Q&A with Sole Williams and Sahara Jones.

‘We’ve got to make sure that everything is tough for them’ Coach Joni Taylor answers questions in preview of the Missouri game

Here’s what Texas A&M Head Coach Joni Taylor had to say during the Missouri matchup preview.

Texas A&M (14-4, 2-3) will be on the road to face the Missouri Tigers (11-8, 2-4) on Thursday night.

The Aggies had a tall mountain to climb against South Carolina last week and came up short but showed some encouraging progress in the game’s final two quarters. With that behind them, Coach Joni Taylor has the task of getting her team to be more consistent as they head into a two-game road stretch.

“This is where we have to grow. This is a growth area for us we haven’t done this very well, and until we can, it’s going to be the same thing that keeps showing up for us and we talk about it all the time. The same lesson is going to keep showing up until you learn from the same test and so our test right now is winning a game on the road and that’s not to put pressure on them it is what it is in this league and so that’s what we’ve got to be able to do”

Below, you can watch the full presser Q&A with Coach Joni Taylor.