Texas A&M vs UTSA | NCAA Women's Basketball | 11.7.24

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WBA Tip Jar: https://linktr.ee/WomensBasketballAlliance This channel is independently run and is not monetized—we do not claim copyright on any video content featured here. Our purpose is solely to promote and celebrate the incredible talent and dedication of these young women. As vocal advocates for the empowerment of female athletes, we hope you enjoy and support this journey with us! ________________________________________________________ Written by Luke Evangelist | TexAgs.com COLLEGE STATION, Tex. After failing their first test, Joni Taylor’s Aggies responded. In front of thousands of elementary school kids, Texas A&M women’s basketball (1-1) won their first game of the 2024-25 campaign over the UTSA Roadrunners (0-1), 55-51. “We love when the kids come. They just bring so much energy,” Sahara Jones said. “Every time they come out, it’s a great game.” A&M hosted “Elementary School Day” during Thursday’s matinee as schools from around the Brazos Valley packed Reed Arena to experience an Aggie basketball game. “It was so loud in here,” Taylor said. “They were screaming at the right time. A lot of the time at these games, they just scream for no reason, no matter who scores. This time, they were screaming at the right time, chanting defense. I was like, ‘OK, we got some basketball fans out here.’ They were locked in.” Aicha Coulibaly — A&M’s leading scorer from last season — was locked in from the jump after leaving the season opener with an injury. Her five first-quarter points helped jumpstart A&M’s offense to a 14-6 lead. The Roadrunners responded repeatedly in the first half, rallying behind their star Jordyn Jenkins, the former 2022-23 Conference USA Player of the Year. “Difficult things reveal who you are. That was our challenge for today. It was a reminder that we’re going to find out who we are right now. They responded.” - Texas A&M head coach Joni Taylor Jenkins tallied 12 points and four rebounds in the first half to keep the upset-minded Roadrunners in the game as A&M took a slim 26-22 lead into the break. After only allowing 10 points in the second quarter, the Aggie porous defense allowed UTSA to speed out to an 11-0 run in the first four minutes of the third quarter. “Difficult things reveal who you are,” Taylor said. “That was our challenge for today. It was a reminder that we’re going to find out who we are right now. They responded.” Basketball is a game of runs, and the Aggies used a crucial timeout to flip the switch. “We were in that timeout, and we already knew we needed to fight back because they already punched us,” Jones said. “So once that happened, we needed to get stops. We needed to score, and we needed to move the ball.” Trailing 33-26 in their own gym, the Aggies mounted a comeback to close the third quarter on a 14-5 run thanks to Jones’ seven third-quarter points. In a back-and-forth final quarter and a 48-48 deadlock with three minutes left, A&M once again turned to their most experienced player: Jones. “My teammates put that confidence in me to do what I always do,” Jones said. She did what needed to be done, scoring five straight points to give the Aggies a 53-51 lead and put the game out of reach late. “Sahara is so hard to guard because she is a three-level scorer,” Taylor said. “She can shoot it. She has a midrange game. You can post her up. She can get to the rim. She’s been in our program for three years, has the most minutes of anyone on our roster and played the most games. “I’m super hard on her, but she takes it in stride. She comes out every day and plays super hard. I’m super proud of her because we demand a lot from her.” After dropping their Monday’s opener, the Aggies still have room for improvement in non-conference play. “We’re still making mistakes. We’ve got to continue to lock in, but I thought we had more intensity today,” Taylor said. “Tuesday was a really hard day for us, but I thought they responded really well. We still have quite a bit of work to do.” Texas A&M’s next test will be at Reed Arena this Sunday at 2 p.m. CT against Western Michigan. https://texags.com/s/63179/am-womens-basketball-needs-come-from-behind-effort-to-beat-utsa