Sunday, February 19
College Station
4:00 PM
Texas A&M
19-8, 9-5SEC
67
vs
72
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Mississippi State
27-1, 13-1SEC
1
2
3
4
F
Mississippi State
12
18
20
22
72
Texas A&M
11
19
25
12
67
Photo by: Thomas Campbell/Texas A&M Athletics
Texas A&M Women's Basketball Falls 72-67 To No. 3 Mississippi State
Feb 19, 2017 | Women's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION- No. 23 Texas A&M fell 72-67 to No. 3 Mississippi State in a women's basketball game at Reed Arena.
The Aggies (19-8, 9-5 SEC) led 67-66 with 1:34 remaining after a layup by Khaalia Hillsman, but Mississippi State (27-1, 13-1 SEC) answered with baskets on their next two possessions to take a 3-point lead.
Danni Williams led the Aggies with 23 points. She was joined in double figures by Curtyce Knox (19), Hillsman (13) and Taylor Cooper (10).
The Aggies went 7-of-7 on 3-pointers, the most 3-point makes without a miss in Texas A&M history.
Mississippi State was led by Victoria Vivians, who scored 20 of her 25 points in the second half.
The Aggies return to action on Thursday, February 23 to host No. 6 South Carolina at 8 p.m.
QUICKIE NOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
Opening Statement...
"Every time we would make a run tonight they would answer right back. Then before the first half ended, we let Danni (Williams) commit a foul on a 3pt shot. I put Jasmine (Lumpkin) in to not give up the right-hand drive and (Victoria) Vivians runs right by her. You can't give them five free points. When we got up seven, Vivians wanted the ball down the stretch and Vivians beat us with her right hand in that 4th quarter. This was just like guarding (Mercedes) Russell of Tennessee. You have to contest shots and get the rebounds when they miss or at least make it harder on them."
What the loss means...
"I went back and told my kids that effort was great but I'm not in this thing for moral victories. We were up seven and we are supposed to win that game at home. We ran the wrong play on the last two possessions. That's my job in those end of game situations. Mississippi State played with a lot of poise and this was a great game for national TV. We are trying to hold on to our standing in the SEC. We are going to have to play better against South Carolina, they are even more polished than Mississippi State. I don't know if South Carolina can play as hard as them though. You don't get very many opportunities to play two top-5 teams at home. Hopefully the fans will be back Thursday night because this was a hell of an effort."
On Mississippi State guard Victoria Vivians...
"Great scorers look for their next points, not their next shot. She's not a shooter, she's a scorer. She made the baskets that counted and that's why she's first team All-SEC. She's just a hard player to defend and we work on taking away the right-hand drive away all week. When you give that up, it makes you think what are we doing as coaches after all we do to prepare for that all week. This was a ballgame we should have won, and that's on me."
Mississippi State Head Coach Vic Schaefer
Opening Statement...
It was a heck of basketball game. You hate that someone has to come out on the short end. Great atmosphere for college basketball. Lots of runs in this game at one point there were 11-0, 7-0 and other runs, and we just happened to get the final run." It's a big time shot by a player not afraid to be in the moment. She was really special today. Numbers, kid was phenomenal and she's been that way all year and she's been on a little bit of tear of late.
On Texas A&M...
"Texas A&M had that competitive spirit. Knox is such a competitive kid, she has to be one of the top two or three point guards in the country. Boy their top-six players are really good. They can do a lot of damage in the postseason and I certainly don't want to play them again. It's about how do you respond in those pressure situations. I was really proud of the way we responded today."
On the final A&M possession (MSU up 3)
"We were switching everything. We went through that play yesterday where the two can't beat you. I've always had a lot of confidence in my half-court defense. Much rather give up the basket and put the faith on my defense. I thought we really contested the shot well. Both teams played so hard today and I'm proud of my kids. They ve done it all year. It was a great atmosphere for college basketball, it got loud and it got rowdy and I thought the key was we were able to respond to all the runs."
TEXAS A&M SENIOR GUARD CURTYCE KNOX
On the last three minutes…
"We could have taken care of the ball better, we had eight turn overs against their great defense. If we were able to take care of the ball down the stretch then we would have a better opportunity to score."
TEXAS A&M SOPHMORE GUARD DANNI WILLIAMS
On what this game means …
"We have to give a lot of credit to them. We had a seven point lead but they just have more poise than us. So that part is definitely frustrating to know that we were that close and didn't close it out. We just have to take it as a learning experience, and get them in the tournament."
MISSISSIPPI STATE SOPHMORE CENTER TEAIRA McCOWAN
On her last shots…
"On my first shot I was going to make a move and kick it out to the open shooter in the corner. On my last shot I knew it was going in like when I shot it I knew it was going in."
On playing in front of family and friends …
"Playing in front of my family, I know I have to play good, but I also know I have to play good for my teammates. That is just a plus coming back home and showing my family in action what I can do. They don't have to watch it on TV they can see me on the court doing what I actually do."
MISSISSIPPI STATE JUNIOR GUARD VICTORIA VIVIANS
On Texas A&M's first-half defense…
"They played pretty good, I took a couple bad shots. I wasn't being aggressive like coach told us. I went out there not focused but, second half I got back on the right track and was more aggressive."
On Mississippi State's offense…
"We had some mental mistakes. We work in practice our transitions so people can get the open three pointer. Coach got on us and told us to guard to do what we do best, and defend. Once our defense came up, high offense started working."
The Aggies (19-8, 9-5 SEC) led 67-66 with 1:34 remaining after a layup by Khaalia Hillsman, but Mississippi State (27-1, 13-1 SEC) answered with baskets on their next two possessions to take a 3-point lead.
Danni Williams led the Aggies with 23 points. She was joined in double figures by Curtyce Knox (19), Hillsman (13) and Taylor Cooper (10).
The Aggies went 7-of-7 on 3-pointers, the most 3-point makes without a miss in Texas A&M history.
Mississippi State was led by Victoria Vivians, who scored 20 of her 25 points in the second half.
The Aggies return to action on Thursday, February 23 to host No. 6 South Carolina at 8 p.m.
QUICKIE NOTES
- Texas A&M falls to 19-8 overall and 9-5 in SEC play. Mississippi State is 27-1 overall and 13-1 in SEC play
- The Aggies are 3-2 against ranked teams this season
- Texas A&M went 7-of-7 on 3-pointers, the most makes without a miss in school history
- Khaalia Hillsman has scored in double figures in all 27 games this season
- Curtyce Knox scored 10+ points for the 13th time this season
- Taylor Cooper scored in double figures for the seventh time this season and fourth time in six games since moving to the starting lineup
- Danni Williams scored 20+ points for the ninth time this season
- She reached double figure points for the 25th time in 27 games this season
- Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 328-137 in 14 seasons at Texas A&M and 736-300 in his Hall of Fame career
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
Opening Statement...
"Every time we would make a run tonight they would answer right back. Then before the first half ended, we let Danni (Williams) commit a foul on a 3pt shot. I put Jasmine (Lumpkin) in to not give up the right-hand drive and (Victoria) Vivians runs right by her. You can't give them five free points. When we got up seven, Vivians wanted the ball down the stretch and Vivians beat us with her right hand in that 4th quarter. This was just like guarding (Mercedes) Russell of Tennessee. You have to contest shots and get the rebounds when they miss or at least make it harder on them."
What the loss means...
"I went back and told my kids that effort was great but I'm not in this thing for moral victories. We were up seven and we are supposed to win that game at home. We ran the wrong play on the last two possessions. That's my job in those end of game situations. Mississippi State played with a lot of poise and this was a great game for national TV. We are trying to hold on to our standing in the SEC. We are going to have to play better against South Carolina, they are even more polished than Mississippi State. I don't know if South Carolina can play as hard as them though. You don't get very many opportunities to play two top-5 teams at home. Hopefully the fans will be back Thursday night because this was a hell of an effort."
On Mississippi State guard Victoria Vivians...
"Great scorers look for their next points, not their next shot. She's not a shooter, she's a scorer. She made the baskets that counted and that's why she's first team All-SEC. She's just a hard player to defend and we work on taking away the right-hand drive away all week. When you give that up, it makes you think what are we doing as coaches after all we do to prepare for that all week. This was a ballgame we should have won, and that's on me."
Mississippi State Head Coach Vic Schaefer
Opening Statement...
It was a heck of basketball game. You hate that someone has to come out on the short end. Great atmosphere for college basketball. Lots of runs in this game at one point there were 11-0, 7-0 and other runs, and we just happened to get the final run." It's a big time shot by a player not afraid to be in the moment. She was really special today. Numbers, kid was phenomenal and she's been that way all year and she's been on a little bit of tear of late.
On Texas A&M...
"Texas A&M had that competitive spirit. Knox is such a competitive kid, she has to be one of the top two or three point guards in the country. Boy their top-six players are really good. They can do a lot of damage in the postseason and I certainly don't want to play them again. It's about how do you respond in those pressure situations. I was really proud of the way we responded today."
On the final A&M possession (MSU up 3)
"We were switching everything. We went through that play yesterday where the two can't beat you. I've always had a lot of confidence in my half-court defense. Much rather give up the basket and put the faith on my defense. I thought we really contested the shot well. Both teams played so hard today and I'm proud of my kids. They ve done it all year. It was a great atmosphere for college basketball, it got loud and it got rowdy and I thought the key was we were able to respond to all the runs."
TEXAS A&M SENIOR GUARD CURTYCE KNOX
On the last three minutes…
"We could have taken care of the ball better, we had eight turn overs against their great defense. If we were able to take care of the ball down the stretch then we would have a better opportunity to score."
TEXAS A&M SOPHMORE GUARD DANNI WILLIAMS
On what this game means …
"We have to give a lot of credit to them. We had a seven point lead but they just have more poise than us. So that part is definitely frustrating to know that we were that close and didn't close it out. We just have to take it as a learning experience, and get them in the tournament."
MISSISSIPPI STATE SOPHMORE CENTER TEAIRA McCOWAN
On her last shots…
"On my first shot I was going to make a move and kick it out to the open shooter in the corner. On my last shot I knew it was going in like when I shot it I knew it was going in."
On playing in front of family and friends …
"Playing in front of my family, I know I have to play good, but I also know I have to play good for my teammates. That is just a plus coming back home and showing my family in action what I can do. They don't have to watch it on TV they can see me on the court doing what I actually do."
MISSISSIPPI STATE JUNIOR GUARD VICTORIA VIVIANS
On Texas A&M's first-half defense…
"They played pretty good, I took a couple bad shots. I wasn't being aggressive like coach told us. I went out there not focused but, second half I got back on the right track and was more aggressive."
On Mississippi State's offense…
"We had some mental mistakes. We work in practice our transitions so people can get the open three pointer. Coach got on us and told us to guard to do what we do best, and defend. Once our defense came up, high offense started working."
Team Stats
MS
TAMU
FG%
.467
.407
3FG%
.267
1.000
FT%
.857
.857
RB
38
31
TO
11
8
STL
3
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
9
3FGM
4
FTM
1
Pts
19
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
9
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
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