COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Thursday night the Texas A&M women's basketball team opened up SEC play against 15th ranked Tennessee. The Aggies had a challenge on their hands trying to slow down an undefeated Lady Vols team that's averaging 99 points a game.
Despite outscoring them in the second half, the Maroon and White could not complete the comeback, and the Aggies fell to Tennessee 91 to 78.
“We felt like, you know, they've got great size, they've got great speed, they're a really, really good team,” Aggie head coach Joni Taylor said. “She's doing a really good job with them, but we felt like if we could get them in a half-court game, we had some opportunities as well to get to the rim, to get to the paint. So some of our goals for the game were obviously to win, win it in the paint and then at halftime, our conversation was to win the 3rd and 4th quarter."
“I think we definitely got outworked in the second half,” Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell said. “They did a really good job of not getting down, when we were up 22 at halftime, and I think they definitely came back and just straight flat out outworked us in the second half.”
What makes the Tennessee offense so potent is their ability to score in the paint and behind the arc. The Vols were also dominant on the offensive boards, which created a lot of second chance opportunities.
“A lot of their 3’s came from offensive rebounds, and so that's what breaks your back and that's why they're so good is they just keep coming in waves and waves,” Taylor said. “They know when they get the offensive rebound, those shooters are backpedaling to the 3 and they knock it down."
After two quick fouls in the 1st quarter, Aggie guard Aicha Coulibaly went to work in the second half and finished with a team leading 20 points.
“When she wanted to put her head down and get to the rim, she got to the rim,” Caldwell said. “We were lucky she was in foul trouble in the first half, to be honest, or it might have been a completely different game. You know, we weren't in gaps, we weren't in health side, we were just trying to guard her one on one and we were not able to do that.”
“That’s what my team expects from me every single night,” Coulibaly said. “Just coming in with the energy and just bringing it on defense on both sides of the floor and I just feel like that's what I gave them tonight and I just got to be consistent with it and just help my team out.”
Coming out of halftime there was a noticeable increase in intensity and the Aggies aggressive play in the second half is something they know they can build on.
“How prideful we were on the court, diving for the ball, doing the little things to help the team out,” Coulibaly said. “Everybody knew their role, and it was just going, and that's the flow we need to get into and just keep it up for 4 quarters, for 40 minutes of a ballgame.”
The Aggies wrap up their homestand Sunday afternoon when they host the 25th ranked Ole Miss Rebels. Tipoff at Reed Arena is set for 2 p.m.
