WBB: Ags upset #8 Oregon State

The Women’s Bouncy Ball got a huge win over #8 Oregon State late Saturday night after a meh performance vs UC Riverside the night before where guard Aaliyah Wilson was lost to a knee injury.

We basically did it for Aaliyah - N’dea Jones after the game.

The two games were on streaming video. Friday’s was a Youtube live stream while the Saturday clash was on the Oregon State women’s Facebook video.

Friday vs UC-Riverside

The Ags led wire to wire but had a hard time shaking the Highlanders. At one point the D was so ineffective that UC-Riverside hit 10 FG in a row. The bigger bad news was starting guard Aaliyah Wilson going down hard and leaving the game. She spent the second half in the stands with her family with ice on her knee. The severity of the injury isn’t known because the team will wait to do an MRI when they return to Texas.

Final Score: UC-Riverside 63, Texas A&M 70

• Carter led the Ags with 26 points, most in the second half
• Ciera Johnson had 18.
• N’dea Jones had 10 rebounds
• Marina Ewodo scored 21 for UCR

Saturday vs #8 Oregon State

With Wilson out, Shambria Washington got her second career start with Carter moving to the 2 guard position.

The Ags came out fast and took a 24-14 lead into the second quarter. Both teams scored 18 in the second quarter to give A&M a 10 point edge going into halftime. Carter finished with 24 points in the first half, giving her 1000 points for her career. This made her one of the fastest to the 1000 point club in SEC history.

Oregon State used a combination of 3s and 6-8 backup center Joana Grymek’s size to close the gap in the 3rd quarter. A&M would only score 11 points in the 3rd. I thought Carter may have tired herself out in the first half as her shots started coming up short. It was 53-50 going into the final period.

If you had told me that A&M had a 3 point lead after being outscored 18-11 in the 3rd vs #8 and Carter would not score in the final quarter and then foul out, I would have guessed a comeback win for Oregon State. And when the Beavers tied it up at 56 with 815 left, I was concerned. But Kayla Wells and and N’dea Jones carried the team down the stretch. Wells attacked the lane and drew fouls that led to going 8/8 from the FT line, while Jones was a demon on the glass against larger opponents.

It was 69-68 after Katie McWilliams made a jumper. Ciera Johson couldn’t convert against the low post D of the Beavers and it looked like Oregon State might take the lead when Carter fouled out with 23 seconds left to send Mikayla Pivec to the FT line. But Pivec, who struggled from the charity stripe all night missed both and N’dea Jones grabbed the rebound. Now Oregon State would have to foul. McWilliams fouled Wells, who made both. The Ags used a foul to give to slow things down but then gave up a layup too quickly to Destiny Slocum with 10 seconds left. Aahliyah Jackson, who had come in for Carter was intentionally fouled. Jackson made the first to give the Ags a 72-70 lead. She missed the second but somehow Jones got the offensive rebound and was fouled. N’dea made both to make it a 2 possession game. The Beavers called their last timeout to advance the ball but turned it over on a bad inbounds pass over the end line. Wells would add two more FTs to ice the win, and Jones would get one more rebound on the last miss.

Final Score: Aggies 76, Oregon State 70

• Carter led all scorers with 27 points and was named the tournament MVP
• Kayla Wells had a career-high 20 points. She was a perfect 8-8 from the FT line.
• N’dea Jones had 20 rebounds, a career high that is good for a 3 way tie for 3rd ever in A&M history. I think it’s a record against a ranked opponent. She made the all-tourney team too.
• Cierra Johnson had 11 points
• Katie McWilliams led Oregon State with 19. The Ags held leading scorer Destiny Slocum to 7.

Sham Washington’s first start was the terrible loss vs Lamar when Carter sat with a suspension. It didn’t go well. She really stepped up in her second start. Although she only had 7 points, it was on 3-4 shooting with 3 assists and just 1 turnover. She played 37 minutes and was involved in shutting down Slocum. Coach Blair singled her out for praise in his post-game comments.

Up Next

• University of Southern California Trojans
• December 19, 2018 5PM CST
• Reed Arena
• Holiday Hoops discount. This game is part of a double header as the men host Valparaiso.
• Streaming SECN+ Radion 1150AM/102.7FM

USC is undefeated at 8-0 (They have a game on Sunday before coming to Reed) but their strength of schedule has only gotten them to the receiving votes group in both polls. This season’s Women of Troy are likely to be somewhat different with the graduation of Sadie Edwards and Kristen Simon, who had 20 and 18 points in last season’s game at USC, where Carter made a national splash by breaking Danielle Adams’ single game scoring record in a dramatic win. A third starter, Jordan Adams, also graduated.

• #3 5-8 Jr PG Minyon Moore was on the All Pac-12 defensive team last year. She scoed 17 vs A&M last year.
• # 4 6-0 Sr Tr G Mariya Moore is Minyon’s sister. She transferred from Louisville after being a starter and All-ACC second team as a junior in 2016-17.
• # 1 6-2 Jr Tr F Kayla Overbeck was at Vanderbilt last season so she’s seen the Ags before. USC got a waiver for her sitting out, as she was expected to sit this year when they announced the transfer in April.
• #5 6-3 Jr F Ja’Tavia Tapsley came off the bench last year and played 21 minutes.
• #0 6-1 RS Fr G Shalexxus Aaron started vs UNLV, but USC seems to be varying their 5th starter.