WBB: Ags start SEC play with a road win

SEC play in WBB began on Thursday and the league experimented with change in the TV coverage. After Mizzou and Tennessee played on SECN+ streaming, the league went to whiparound coverage of six games with staggered tip times. You could still get single games via streaming in parallel.

6:00 PM #13 Kentucky vs. #4 South Carolina

6:30 PM Georgia vs. Ole Miss

7:00 PM Florida vs. #15 Mississippi State

7:30 PM Alabama vs. LSU

7:30 PM Auburn vs. Vanderbilt

8:00 PM #11 Texas A&M vs. #20 Arkansas

All times CST.

This meant the first and last games should get a good share of the coverage, and indeed the Ags and Hogs got substantial minutes in the first and fourth quarter. Nevertheless, I streamed most of it.

Arkansas and A&M each finished the OOC schedule at 21-1.

The Ags started fast, shooting 66.7 before the fitst media timeout to take a 20-10 lead. Blair subbed in Wilson and Keah. Arkansas stars started hitting their shots but the Ags kept the lead at 27-18. Carter had 13 on 5-6 shooting. N’dea Jones had 9.

Tolefree ran into Jones attempting a steal and the razorbacks guard had to leave the floor. She returned a few minutes later and banked in a 3. Every time Arkansas looked like they might get their offense going, the Ags would counter. For example, Arkansas cut the lead to 5 but Aahliyah Jackson put back a Carter miss to trigger a 6-0 run. N’dea led all scorers with 16 at half, followed by Carter with 15.

Halftime score 44-32.

Going into the second half, even with a double digit lead, Arkansas is the kind of team that can erase a lead in a hurry if they get hot. Ramirez and Tolefree lead the SEC in 3FG%, and the Razorbacks have been using turnovers and transition in their earlier games. The Ags had largely avoided that in the first half, but turnovers early in the third got Arkansas back with in 1 at 48-47. It also seemed like Arkansas star Chelsea Jennngs might be finding the range. The advantage in rebounding and some timely baskets held of the Hogs through the quarter.

59-54 Ags going into the 4th.

Arkansas would pull into a 61-61 tie with 6:24 remaining when freshman Makayla Daniels went coast to coast off a Wells miss. But the Ags didn’t panic. A “I can get this whenever I want to” layup by Carter restored the lead. Then the Ags dominance on the boards led to FT opportunities for N’dea and Cierra. The lead got back up to 7 and bounced around there until a mistake gave Arkansas a last glimmer of hope.

Aalihyah Jackson fouled Ramirez shooting a 3 - it looked to me that she was ran into her catching up on a break more that she was trying to defend the shot. Ramirez made all 3 to make it 78-74. Sham stretched it to 80-74 from the FT line, but another foul sent Kiara Williams to the line. Williams made the first and missed the second. Dungee rebounded and was fouled. She made 2. 80-77. 1 possession game. But only 22 seconds left.

The Ags called time out to advance the ball and then inbounded to Sham in the back court. Arkansas had to foul her; she made 1 of 2. After that, Arkansas missed desperation shots, had to foul, and the the Ags made enough of their FTs.

FInal Score A&M 84 Arkansas 77

• Four Ags finished in double figures in scoring, led by Carter with 28 on 12-23 shooting. Chennedy added 7 rebounds and 3 assists to her totals.
• N’dea Jones had a career high 22 points and her 14th double-double (4 this season) with 14 boards. N’dea also blocked 2 shots.
• Ciera Johnson also had a double-double (15th career, 4th this season) with 11 points and 10 boards.
• Kayla Wells added 15 points.
• Sham Washington had 8 assists against only 1 turnover.
• Arkansas was led by Chelsea Dungee, who came on late to get to 20 points. Alexis Tolefree kept Arkansas in it in the first half and scored 18 all from 6 3-pointers. Amber Ramirez added 14 and Kiana WIlliams scored 11 off the bench.
• A&M dominated the rebounding 45-29. That led to a 16-8 edge in second chance points and a 46 to 26 advantage in points in the paint.

Up Next

• Ole Miss Rebels
• Monday Jan 6, 2020 6PM CST
• Reed Arena
• Holiday Hoops pricing
• TV: SEC Network Streaming: SECN+ Radio: 1150 AM/93.7 FM

Ole Miss dropped their SEC opener to Georgia last night to bring their overall record to 7-7. The media and coaches picked Ole Miss 13th but differed on who would be below them - the coaches picked Florida, while the media had Vandy. Based on results so far, Ole Miss is considered the weakest team in the SEC in Coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin’s second year. Based on the SEC opener we’re likely to see the following starters

• #13 6-5 Jr Juco Tr F Dominique Banks averages 6.5 ppg and 6.9 rpg playing 22.1 min
• #20 5-9 Fr G Jayla Alexander averages 9.1 ppg
• #2 5-8 RS So G Mimi Reid averages 5.0 ppg. She’s the only starter to also start last year’s game vs the Ags.
• #44 5-11 RS Sr G Torri Lewis aveargs 6.3 ppg. She redshirted last season but started against the Ags as a sophomore.
• #31 5-8 RS Jr TR G Deja Cage, who came from DePaul and sat last year. She didn’t play in the NCAA game vs A&M that year.