Ole Miss overpowers shorthanded Aggies as skid reaches five, 57-38

Seven was once again not enough.

With only seven available players, Texas A&M (5-9, 0-4) dropped a fifth consecutive game, falling to Ole Miss (15-2, 4-0) on Saturday afternoon at Reed Arena, 57-38.

A&M has not played with more than eight players since a 42-38 loss at Little Rock on Dec. 6. Since then, A&M’s lone victory was a 57-49 showing against SMU on Dec. 18.

“Joni (Taylor) keeps us so poised,” A&M guard Kay Kay Green said. “She tells us to keep fighting. If we have five, we’re going to play with five. If we have seven, we’re going to play with seven. She just keeps us poised and in situations. We feed off that, and we try to come out and give her the best we can.”

With key players Janiah Baker, Tineya Hylton and now Sahara Jones among the injured, the Aggies have struggled to find much offense and have yet to score more than 50 points in conference play, a trend which continued against Ole Miss.

“It’s nothing that Ole Miss really did to make us miss shots or anything,” Green said. “We don’t have any legs right now, so all of our shots are short. The shots that we usually hit are not falling.”

The Rebels’ defense caused problems for the Aggies, forcing 24 turnovers — including 14 steals — capitalizing for 25 points off of them and 24 from fastbreaks.

“Their defense is excellent,” Taylor said. “Their tops in the country and in our league in several defensive categories. They had 36 at halftime, and 31 of those points were off their transition and off our turnovers.

“That’s their plan A, and we gave it to them.”

In a season where wins and losses cannot measure success, Taylor continued to point to alternative statistics to gauge A&M’s growth.

“One of the things I told them was they were going to press us for the entire game,” Taylor said. “I would rather have a five-second count and set our defense instead than turn it over and send them off to the races. There was a point in the game where that happened.

“That’s a win. That’s a small success. They’re listening. We were able to get the ball inside, and that’s one of the things we talked about doing.”

Individually, Aaliyah Patty scored 14 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. The Ole Miss trio of Snudda Collins, Madison Scott and Marquesha Davis scored 11 each. Jada Malone also reached double figures with 10.

A&M did not get a single point from its short bench.

“I don’t know if this was our best defensive game,” Green said. “We gave up a lot of points in transition, which is what they like to do.”

Utilizing a high-pressure style of defense that led a fast-running transition offense, Ole Miss embarked on an 11-0 run in the first quarter. Still, the Aggies dug out of a 13-4 hole as a Patty layup ended the drought before Sydney Bowles nailed a triple. Back-to-back long-range 2-pointers by Kay Kay Green brought the first frame to a close with A&M trailing, 15-13.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

A swarming Ole Miss defense held A&M to 34 percent (16/47) shooting from the field.

Another long A&M drought allowed the Rebels to assume control with a 19-2 run by reeling in numerous offensive rebounds. Ole Miss held an 8-3 advantage on the offensive glass at the break and a 36-21 halftime edge.

“When you have those runs, those game-changing plays for the other team, that’s when the mental toughness part comes in,” Patty said. “Moving forward, we have to be better with coming out when people do go on runs and being the mentally tougher team.”

The second half brought more of the same as Ole Miss continued to overwhelm the Maroon & White with their length and speed. The Aggies hung tough, though the deficit never dipped below 10.

“We adjusted at half, but the first and second quarter, we really have to lock in and dig deep because that’s how they got their lead,” Green said. 

A&M entered the fourth quarter with a slim chance, but a poor frame cemented the Ole Miss win as the Rebels held A&M scoreless for the final 4:38.

“We ran out of gas,” Taylor said. “We put so much pressure on every single shot, and when it doesn’t go in, it’s just a letdown, and that letdown leads to not doing what we’re supposed to do on the defensive end, and we can’t let one affect the other.”

A&M’s difficult stretch does not let up as the Aggies host Tennessee on Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT.