Williams’ Late Free Throws Put No. 17 Women Past No. 6 Tennessee 79-76 In Overtime

Thursday, January 11

College Station

6 p.m.

Texas A&M

14-4, 3-1SEC

Tennessee

15-1, 3-1SEC

OT 1

Tennessee

Texas A&M

Photo by: Thomas Campbell/Texas A&M Athletics

Jan 11, 2018 | Women's Basketball

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COLLEGE STATION- Danni Williams hit three free throws to take the lead with 7.8 seconds remaining, as No. 17 Texas A&M defeated No. 6 Tennessee 79-76 in overtime, handing the Lady Vols their first loss of the season.

The Aggies (14-4, 3-1 SEC) rallied back from down four with less than two minutes to play in overtime, using a 9-2 run, making all seven of their free throws in that span. The Lady Vols (15-1, 3-1 SEC) closed regulation on a 8-1 run of their own.

Texas A&M picked up its first win over a Top 10 opponent since November 30, 2014, and their first win over a ranked opponent in five tries this season. The Aggies have now defeated Tennessee in each of the last three SEC regular seasons.

Williams and Khaalia Hillsman each scored a game-high 22 points, while Chennedy Carter added 21. Hillsman added a game-high 11 rebounds, as she scored 20+ points for the third consecutive game.

The game featured 17 lead changes and 10 ties.

The Aggies return to action on Sunday, January 14 to host Georgia at 2 p.m. The first 1,000 fans at Reed Arena receive a bobblehead of Aggie great Sydney Colson, who played from 2007-11.

QUICKIE NOTES

Texas A&M

This is Texas A&M's first win against an AP Top 10 team since Nov. 30, 2014
The Aggies improve to 14-4 on the season and 3-1 in SEC play. Tennessee suffers its first loss of the season, falling to 15-1 overall and 3-1 in SEC play
This is Texas A&M's first overtime game of the year. The Aggies are 5-2 all-time in SEC overtime games
The last time Tennessee and Texas A&M met at Reed Arena, the Aggies won 76-71 in overtime.
Texas A&M has now beat Tennessee in their last three regular season meetings
Texas A&M is 1-4 against AP Top 25 teams this season, with all five of those games coming against teams ranked 11^th or higher.
The Aggies are 10-2 at home this season and 64-12 at home since the start of the 2013-14 season
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 345-145 in 15 seasons at Texas A&M and 753-308 in his Hall of Fame career, which is tied for seventh among active coaches and 11^th all-time

Chennedy Carter

Scored 20+ points for the ninth time this season in 18 games.
Scored 10+ points for the 18^th straight game. She is the first Texas A&M player to start her career with 18 straight double-digit scoring games.

Khaalia Hillsman

Scored 20+ points for the third straight game and the seventh time this year. She has 18 career 20+ point games, which ranks sixth at Texas A&M.
Had her second straight double-double, and ranks second on Texas A&M's career double-double list with 20.
Scored in double figures for the 14^th time in 18 games this season
Had 10+ rebounds for the fifth time this season and the 25^th time in her career

Danni Williams

Scored 20+ points for the fourth time this season
Scored in double figures for the eighth straight game and the 16^th time in 18 games this season. She has 47 career 10+ point games

Anriel Howard

Had 10+ rebounds for the 13^th straight game and the 17^th time this season. She has 45 career 10+ rebound games

POSTGAME QUOTES

Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
Opening Statement…
"Great ball game. Win or lose, that was a great ball game. Just like the South Carolina game that we had at their place. Our 5,000 (fans) were involved, and I think that is what really helped us. We made a lot of runs in the ball game, and every time we had a run they had an answer for it. I think right before the first half when Anriel (Howard) had to sit down, that really hurt us because they just started killing us on the boards. Carbon copy of the game at their place last year. We had to have six people all do their part and all score. Jasmine (Lumpkin) had some shots early that built her confidence. Just look at those minutes played. They were doing the same thing down on the other end. Yes, we were dead tired, and yes, maybe I should have subbed more, but this team is used to playing those type of minutes. Every possession was so important. Give our kids credit. It wasn't (Chennedy) Carter's best game, but the most important thing was she wanted the ball. She still makes things happen. I'm just going to take it as a W. I hope this town can realize what a difference they can make when they are in the stands. We aren't in this thing to win games. We are in this thing to win championships. We have every bit of a chance to win the SEC just like everyone else. We are going to play to win this thing, but we can't have a let down against Georgia on Sunday."

On the end of regulation…
"I wouldn't let the kids get down on themselves. I was trying to do my best motivation and just say hey, we will find a way. I just enjoy coaching this team. I enjoy coaching this team when the fans respond like they did in the ballgame. That is what it is all about. I am proud of this team and what we have done. We have been in so many games like this all year, and our kids are tired. We have to tough it up and get ready for Georgia."

On Danni's final three point shot…
"I told her I said, if you get an open look, don't go for the tie. If she shoots inside the arc, those are going to be the ones that are contested and that she was missing. If she gets an open look, let it fly."

On Khaalia Hillsman…
"Hillsman was spectacular the whole ballgame. That's the best she has played against (Mercedes) Russell in her four years. I thought the left-handed hook that she made in the third quarter was the best basket she has made all year. I think she is playing pretty well. The WNBA was here. You had three different teams here to see the two Tennessee players. I hope that they realize that we have a senior who can play in the league too. How about Hillsman. She is pretty good."

Texas A&M Senior Center Khaalia Hillsman
On Mercedes Russell…
"It was a battle. She'd score, then I'd score. She'd get a rebound, and I'd get a rebound. It was back and forth with us battling with each other. I have major respect for Russell. We chatted it up after the game giving each other major props. She's a great athlete, long, athletic, skilled. She has it all. I just tried to come out there and go as hard as I can because I knew if I slacked off a little bit she could have gone off for 30."

On the game…
"When we made our run, we lost our sense of urgency. We started getting careless with the ball and playing poorly on defense. Once we made our run, we felt like we could blow it open, but Tennessee is not going to let that happen. Once we found urgency we were totally fine. When we played the defense in the last few seconds of the game we were totally locked in. Coach (Bob) Starkey did a good job trying to get us to do the right thing on defense."

Texas A&M Junior Guard Danni Williams
On game-winning free throws…
"I thought I was going to throw up. I knew I had to breathe and relax and treat it like everyday shooting free throws. Thankfully Coach Blair and my teammates trusted me to take the shot."

On drawing the crunch-time foul…
"Coach Blair said we only needed a two, but if I was open he told me to take it. I tried to get the off the best shot possible and soon enough, so we could get the rebound and putback if needed. I was ready to take that shot. A couple times (Evina Westbrook) had contested me close in the prior shots. The last shot I took she actually had blocked, so I knew if I could draw her a little bit in it could be a foul."

Tennessee Head Coach Holly Warlick
Opening Statement…
"Just a hard fought game by both teams. We were very concerned about their offensive rebounding, and we just gave up too many down the stretch. You can't foul jump shooters, and we did that three times I think today. It is a learning game for us, and we will go back and get better. Hats off to Texas A&M. They battled, and they got the win. I think both teams were getting after it. It was a fun game. I obviously would much rather have won, but our young kids will learn from this. We are going to need to grow up a little bit. Everything about this game we will learn from."

On only shooting 11 free throws…
"We didn't attack the basket. Credit to A&M because they didn't allow us to get the ball inside. Our M.O. has been to get to the free throw line., and we didn't attack our basket until the fourth quarter, and I don't know why. I thought Mercedes (Russell) was solid, and we were going to get it into her. She and (Khaalia) Hillsman battled. They are two big players going at each other. We need to step up, and we didn't. We shot too many threes. We didn't need to shoot 19 threes. That wasn't our gameplan. We have to get to the line. We have to do what we do, and we didn't do that at times tonight."

Tennessee Senior Center Mercedes Russell
On struggling to reach the free-throw line…
"It was a lot of our offense. We were being very passive, not attacking and not looking for the drive and settling for jump shots. It was more of us than them I think."

On Aggie Defense / Tennessee Offense...
"It was a lot of our turnovers. Most of our turnovers were us miscommunicating and making bad passes on our part. A lot of it came down to us turning it over and then not getting stops on the defensive end."

Tennessee Senior Forward Jaime Nared
On playing against Hillsman...
"She didn't get boxed out. We knew they were a good rebounding team, her and (Anriel) Howard. They got a bunch of o-boards and we knew we were supposed to box them out and they got easy looks and putbacks. Hillsman had 22, and we had to stop their players. We knew they had the three leading scorers, and they did a good job of rebounding and scoring the ball."