Huskies Can’t Keep Pace with No. 23 Texas A&M
Box Score
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Huskies were neck-and-neck with No. 23 Texas A&M for most of their matchup Saturday night at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas, but in the end, the Huskies weren’t able to piece together long stretches of consistent play. The Aggies defeated the Huskies, 74-68, in a game that Texas A&M led by 19 early in the 2nd half.
The Aggies (6-2) scored the first 11 points of the 2nd half, stretching their lead to 19, 47-28, just over three minutes into the second period. The Huskies (2-3) stormed back, going on a 24-8 run over a seven-and-a-half minute stretch midway through the 2nd half, but the battle-tested Aggies held off a Washington rotation that is still trying to find its rhythm.
“We got down by 19, and we could have gotten beat by 30,” head coach Mike Neighbors said. “Instead we got it back to three, so I’m really, really proud of that. There are lots of positives that we can carry over from that.”
The Huskies were on the attack against the Aggies early on, running out to a 17-10 lead on a Mercedes Wetmore baseline jump-shot with 9:56 remaining in the first half. Junior Jazmine Davis had 10 of the Huskies 17 points at that point. But the Aggies went on a 20-6 run over the next six-and-a-half minutes to take a 30-21 lead with 3:18 to play in the first period. The Aggies took a 8-point lead, 36-28, into halftime.
“We had some lineups tonight that hadn’t played together a lot, so I think familiarity will help there,” Neighbors said. “More practice will help there. We’ve only played five games. Most everybody else in the country has played 10. We’re getting ready to hit that stretch where we can develop a little consistency.”
Davis finished as the game’s leading scorer with 24 points.
“Jazmine was really aggressive,” Neighbors said. “I think she’ll be the first one to tell you that she missed a couple shots that she normally is going to make. It could have been even a bigger night, but she was very good, and I think we did a good job of taking what they gave us.”
The game was a something of a reunion for Neighbors and Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair. Blair was Neighbors mentor when Neighbors got his start in college basketball as the director of operations for the University of Arkansas women’s basketball team, where Blair was the head coach.
After over three weeks without a home game, the Huskies will return to Alaska Airlines Arena for a pair of games, first on Friday, Dec. 13 vs. Wisconsin at 7:30 p.m. and then on Sunday, Dec. 15 vs. Montana State at 2:00 p.m.