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The Ags usually wear white with pink trim for home breast cancer games, but they got new all-pink uniforms for Thursday night's game. The team was excited to see that instead of their last names, they had nicknames under their numbers on the backs of the jerseys.
First quarter
After missing two games, Jordan "JJ" Jones returned to the starting lineup along with Courtney "Cee Walk" Walker, Courtney "Cee Will" Williams, Anriel "Lashes" Howard, and Khaalia "Big Homie" Hillsman. LSU, in their white uniforms, went with Rina Hill, Akila Bethel, Alexis Hyder, Jasmine Rhodes, and Shanice Norton. Both teams started slowly, with the first bucket coming at 7:36 on a jumper by CWill after Jones showed that she was her old self by taking a hard charge (as the crowed collectively cringed). It wasn't quite as bad as the first quarter in Baton Rouge, which ended 8-4 in favor of LSU, but there were a lot of missed layups inside.
It was 7-3 Ags when Coach Fargas subbed in Jenna Deemer, who saw her first playing time in several games. Deemer quickly hit a 3 to tie the game at 7. It was tied again at 9 and 11 before the Ags took the lead from the FT line after LSU fouls put A&M into the bonus.
Second quarter
Fourth quarter
- CWill led all scorers with 17 points. She added 6 rebounds 2 assists, and a steal. Walker started slowly but finished with 14 points and 7 boards. Jennings had 13 points off the bench. Overall, the Ags shot 44.2% from the field.
- In her return, Jones had 9 assists against just 2 turnovers.
- LSU was led by Hill with 14 and Hyder with 13. Deemer and Bethel each had 9, leaving Bethel one point short of a double-double
- While A&M and LSU were in the first half, Kentucky was finishing off a dominating win over Mississippi state in Starkville. The Ags were already in second place thanks to the tiebreaker with MSU, but now have a 1 game lead over MSU, Florida and Auburn, who are in a three-way tie for 3rd place in the SEC.
Up next
- Vanderbilt Commodores
- 4PM CST February 21, 2016
- Memorial Gym, Nashville, TN
- TV: SEC Network Radio KZNE 1150AM/102.7FM
Vanderbilt was picked to finish 11th in the preseason SEC WBB poll, in part because 4 significant contributors transferred in the off-season. In a season where everyone else below S. Carolina is off from the predictions, Vandy is in 11th after falling to Florida on Thursday. Probable starters
- #33 5-11 So G Christa Reed (10.7 ppg 3.1 rpg) is one of 2 players who has started 25 games. She leads the team in scoring.
- #23 5-10 RS-Jr G Minta Spears (5.7 ppg, 4.2 asst/g) has also started 25 games.
- #22 6-1 Jr F Marqu'es Webb (7.0 ppg 5.6 rpg) is the leading rebounder.
- #25 5-10 Sr G Morgan Batey (6.7 ppg) has only started 7 games, but she started against both UK and Florida, and has had some good games vs A&M.
- #3 5-10 So G Rachel Bell didn't start against Florida. She was replaced in the lineup by #41 5-7 So G Miaya Seawright, a walk-on, but Seawright only played 10 minutes to 18 for Bell. This last starting spot could also go to Rebekah Dahlman or Jasmine Jenkins.
Overall, 10 different players have started at least 1 game for Vandy, indicating that Coach Melanie Balcomb is trying to find a productive combination. After upsetting Kentucky at the end of January, Vandy is now on a 6 game losing streak. Most of the games haven't been very close. But the Coach Blair has not gotten a win at Vanderbilt since coming to A&M. He hates playing in their gym and the Ags have had some pretty horrific offensive performances there. This might be as good a chance as we'll see, but the combination of zone D and the weird layout at Memorial could be bad.
BTHO Vanderbilt!