Williams' 32 Lifts Aggies to OT Win

Thursday, November 17

College Station

7:00 PM

Texas A&M

2-0

Texas Tech

1-1

OT 1

Texas Tech

Texas A&M

Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics

Nov 17, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery A&M 98, TX Tech 90 - Final Stats (PDF)

COLLEGE STATION- Danni Williams scored 32 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left in regulation, to lead Texas A&M to a 98-90 overtime win over former conference foe Texas Tech in a women's basketball game at Reed Arena.

Williams, who has now scored 25+ points in each of her two games this season, scored six of the Aggies' first eight points in overtime, as Texas A&M (2-0) went on an 8-2 run to put the game out of reach.

The game went to overtime after a wild last minute of a game that saw 22 lead changes and eight ties. After Texas Tech (1-1) took an 81-80 lead with 6.6 seconds to play, Williams hit a 3-pointer to give the Aggies a two point lead. Texas Tech's Arella Guirantes tied the game with a buzzer beating jumper to force overtime.

Five Aggies reached double figures in scoring, with Anriel Howard (17 points, 16 rebounds) and Khaalia Hillsman (17 points, 12 rebounds) posting double doubles. Jasmine Lumpkin added 14 points and Taylor Cooper had 12.

Recee Caldwell led the Lady Raiders with 38 points.

The Aggies have now won five straight in the series against Texas Tech, and four straight overtime games. Texas A&M's 98 points are the most by the Aggies since scoring 105 against ULM on Jan. 4, 2011.

Texas A&M returns to action on Sunday, November 20 at 4 p.m. to host Stephen F. Austin on SEC Network Plus.

QUICKIE NOTES

This is Texas A&M's first overtime game this season after going 3-0 in overtime last season. The Aggies have won six of their last seven overtime games.
The Aggies are now 2-0 on the season, and the Lady Raiders are 1-1
Five Texas A&M players reached double figures in scoring, marking the first time the Aggies had five players in double figures since Nov. 15, 2015
This is the most points scored by Texas A&M since scoring 105 against ULM on Jan. 4, 2011
Texas A&M is now 44-7 at home since the start of 2013-14 and is 135-4 against unranked teams at home since Feb. 2005
Danni Williams scored a career-high 32 points, making her the first Aggie with a 30+ scoring game since Courtney Walker had 31 at Florida on Feb. 4, 2016
- She 20+ points for the second straight game, marking the first two 20+ point games of her career
Anriel Howard had her first career double-double with a career-high 17 points and 16 rebounds
- It is her second straight 10+ point game and the fourth of her career
- It is her sixth 10+ rebound game
Khaalia Hillsman posted her second consecutive double double and the fourth of her career
- It is her 15^th career 10+ point game
- It is her ninth career 10+ rebound game
This marks the first time the Aggies had two double-doubles since Jordan Jones and Courtney Williams had double doubles on Dec. 28, 2013 against Louisiana Tech
Jasmine Lumpkin had a Texas A&M career high with 14 points
- She scored in double figures for the fourth time in her career and for the second time in her Texas A&M career
Taylor Cooper had a Texas A&M career high with 12 points. It is her second double-digit scoring game at Texas A&M and the 18^th of her career.
Curtyce Knox had 10 assists, marking her fifth straight start with 5+ assists
- She has 10+ assists in each game this season

QUICKIE QUOTES

Texas Tech Head Coach Candi Whitaker
On taking Texas A&M into overtime…
"I'm proud of how our team competed. We knew rebounding was going to be the difference and that's where I think they did the most damage but proud of how we fought back and competed. We're a young team, a really young team that's going to learn a lot from this and get better.

Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
Opening Statement…
"Folks, we just saw an NCAA playoff game. That's as good as we can play, that's as good as they can play. Give them a lot of credit, but we made the stops to start overtime that really helped us. The thing is, every time I'd get excited about us executing a play, they would come down and [Recee'] Caldwell or [Jada] Terry would make a play on the other end. Give both of those kids a lot of credit because that's 62 points out of 90, 62 points.

On Texas Tech's game-tying play…
"I thought we did a great job after Danni banked in that shot. When a shooter's in a rhythm, it's either going to be long or going to be in, but she hit the shot that we had to have down by one that put us up by two. Then that sideline play with 2.7 seconds up there. Give them credit, we took all their scoring options away and they threw it to a girl that we were not expecting to shoot it. The kid's on scholarship, she knocked it down."

On specific players' performances and executing the offense…
"Look at our balance scoring, the thing you're not going to see that much is what Jasmine [Lumpkin] and [Taylor] Cooper did in this ball game. They gave us different options because I'm sure Tech wasn't expecting them to be as good as what they played in this game. Lumpkin gave us a great start early in the ballgame by hitting some key drives and then we switched her on Caldwell probably the last five minutes of regulation just to be a six footer over her because she was just shooting over our guards."

Texas A&M Sophomore Guard Danni Williams
On her go-ahead shot with 2.7 seconds left in regulation…
"Obviously I did (shoot too soon) because they got another shot, but during that time I really wasn't even thinking about that. We were down one, and I just knew I had to score someway, somehow, so I wasn't really thinking about the clock."

On the difference between A&M's play in regulation versus overtime…
"I think we just came together, you know. We said we've come this far and we're not going to lose it right now. Our team chemistry is incredible this year, and I give all these girls the credit. When we're down we don't get scared or intimidated. This was our first time being in that situation, and we just looked to each other and knew to relax, calm down, and we got it."

Texas A&M Senior Guard Curtyce Knox
On her ten assists…
"Danni (Williams) gave me a lot of help on those assists, and Khaalia (Hillsman) as well. We ran a lot of plays for those two because we look at them as our best scorers in a game, so I give them the credit for knocking down the shots."

On defending Texas Tech…
"I knew we had to stop (Recee') Caldwell somehow, so I tried to overplay the passing lanes to her and Japreece Dean as well. They were their best three-point shooters, so on defense our goal is to just not let them get the touch to be able to get the shot. Overplaying is how I got some of the steals."