Story Poster
Joni Taylor
Rogers & Ware
Texas A&M Women's Basketball

An alarming 22 turnovers plague A&M in loss to Mississippi State, 74-63

February 4, 2024
3,337

Protecting the basketball and home court are absolute musts to find success in the SEC.

Not doing so can result in winnable games slipping through your fingertips. Literally.

That is what happened to Texas A&M on Sunday at Reed Arena as an alarming 22 turnovers plagued the Aggies offensively and allowed Mississippi State to head home victorious, 74-63.

"I don't think I would say it's because we had a week off. We were just really careless with the basketball," head coach Joni Taylor said. "(Mississippi State) is a really good team. We just have to be better and make better decisions with the ball."

From start to finish, the ballhandling woes were apparent.

On the surface, what appeared to be a potent 11-2 start for the Aggies was watered down by four wasted possessions.

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs
Rogers led the Aggies with 17 points on Sunday afternoon. Additionally, she only had one turnover in the contest.

After the Bulldogs' initial bucket, they did not score again until the 5:28 mark. A&M scored 11 unanswered points, with five coming from Endyia Rogers in that stretch.

The visitors crept back because of A&M's miscues. A 10-2 Mississippi State run closed the gap before the lead was stolen in the second.

The turnover bug kept biting and killed A&M's offensive consistency, leading to just a six-point second quarter.

Transition buckets were the heartbeat of Mississippi State's scoring due to A&M's inability to hang onto the ball, totaling 13 turnovers at the half.

"That was just us," Rogers said. "We just turned the ball over. We were making stupid mistakes."

An 18-2 run before the break gave the Bulldogs an eight-point lead, but not a deficit that was too steep to climb out of for A&M.

The Aggies needed just five minutes to tie things up at 36-36. They only trailed by three entering the final frame.

It remained a tight affair until the Bulldogs ran away with it, capitalizing off of A&M's sputtering offense and sinking their free throws.

Mississippi State converted 22 of their 29 attempts at the line. Fourteen came in the final quarter.

With eight SEC games down, Taylor's Aggies have eight more to go.

Sitting at 3-5 in the league, A&M cannot afford to have games slip away if they dream of a postseason appearance.

To begin a return to .500 in conference, the Aggies will need to grab a tough win on the road on Thursday at Ole Miss.

"I liked a lot of things we did. We have to stop fouling and can't turn the ball over," Taylor said. "We have to bounce back because we are going on the road and playing a stingy team defensively and a good team offensively in Ole Miss."

Discussion from...

An alarming 22 turnovers plague A&M in loss to Mississippi State, 74-63

2,567 Views | 7 Replies | Last: 9 mo ago by trackaggie76
mullokmotx
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AG
The headline for this story was appropriate. The team also had 22 turnovers in the loss at Georgia.
mullokag
AggieSports
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AG
mullokmotx said:

The headline for this story was appropriate. The team also had 22 turnovers in the loss at Georgia.

Wow, didn't realize that. Makes no sense that we can't take better care of the ball, especially when so many of our turnovers are unforced….just poor and careless passes. What is going on with this team? It's really concerning that we seem to be digressing. Had high hopes when the season began. I do know that Barker is a big piece of what we do. We don't have the depth to overcome her lack of production and presence. Coulibaly was such a dominant force at Auburn. She has her moments, but nothing like I've seen from her in the past. Lauren does a great job when she's in the game…steady and consistent. Wish we would go to her more. Unfortunately, we have no true replacement for her position when she goes to the bench. Rogers has been really good for us. Sometimes her scoring is what keeps us in games. I love all of our players and coaches. You couldn't ask for better representatives of our university. I know not one of us wants to win more than they do. There is still time to turn things around, but we've got our work cut out for us. Cutting down on our turnovers would be a great start. Let's clean things up Ags and get on the right track. We're so much better than we're playing!
Rudybryan
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There is no excuse for these turnovers......it is a total lack of concentration and being in the game....these kids' minds wander they need to pay attention

I feel so sorry for the coaches....there is no way you to can tell me that the coaches have not taught the skills
it would take to win these games. What I see is a lack of execution on the part of the players. Whether it's missing bunny shots, wild passes, trying to shoot when you are surrounded, dribbling on your own feet etc


I am praying that they can get their acts together and not blow this season completely. They have gone from 7 seed in the tournament to right now not playing.


aggieFann
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Rudy I agree with you! I would also add that while it is obviously the players committing these careless turnovers, it stems from being undisciplined. It's one thing to turn the ball over against a tough man to man defense but we're turning it over against zone defenses (GA and MS State) and then at times settling for three pointers which is what the other opponents want.
B$Weigem
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AG
I agree that most of the blame falls on the players, especially since most of the turnovers were unforced bone head passes.

The coaches aren't free of blame. Many times on Sunday the threes were shot by players who shouldn't be shooting threes and that is on the coaching.
sharpdressedman
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It seems like the worst shots this team takes are within three feet of the basket.
trackaggie76
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AG
Yep I cringe when Ware or Barker shoot 3s!
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