GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — No. 21 Texas A&M faces Florida’s prolific 3-point shooting in a women’s basketball game 6 p.m. Monday, February 25 at Exactech Arena, as the Aggies look to keep pace in the race for SEC and NCAA Tournament seeding.
The game is broadcast on SEC Network with Brenda VanLengen and A’ja Wilson on the call. The game is also available through WatchESPN and the ESPN app on smartphones, computers, tablets and connected devices (Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One). Radio listeners can hear Tom Turbiville and Steve Miller on The Zone 1150 AM/102.7 FM in Bryan-College Station, and online at 12thMan.com.
The Aggies (20-6, 9-4 SEC) are coming off one of their strongest performances in SEC play, defeating Tennessee 79-62 Thursday. Sophomore Kayla Wells had a career-high 29 points and sophomore Chennedy Carter had 28 as the Aggies shot 59 percent in the second half.
Texas A&M will have to contend with Florida’s (6-20, 2-11 SEC) attack from beyond-the-arc, as the Gators rank second in the SEC in 3-pointers made and in the nation’s top-25 for 3-point attempts.
“Their outside game is excellent,” said Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair. “You’ve got to defend, whether you’re in a zone or a man defense, because they shoot 3s all over the court.”
Funda Nakkasoglu leads Florida with 16.3 points per game and is the conference’s leader in 3-pointers made. The Gators, under second-year head coach Cameron Newbauer, have picked up two-point conference home wins against Missouri and Alabama, as well as a key non-conference victory over Texas Tech.
“What we got to do is take advantage and go inside against Florida,” added Blair. “We want to be able to get Ciera Johnson and N’dea Jones a lot of shots inside.”
Texas A&M is looking to finish in the top-four of the Southeastern Conference standings and earn a double-bye at the upcoming SEC Tournament, held March 6-10 in Greenville, S.C. With three games remaining in the conference schedule, Texas A&M, one game ahead of Missouri for the final double-bye, can guarantee a berth into the SEC Quarterfinals with wins in its next two games.
Additionally, the Aggies are making a push to be one of the top-16 teams seeded by the NCAA Selection Committee and earn the right to host First-and-Second Round games at Reed Arena for the second consecutive year. As of Sunday, Texas A&M ranked No. 16 in the RPI, one of the key metrics used by the committee.
