Crazy final quarter completes furious comeback as Ags upset Ole Miss
Down 16 at halftime, Texas A&M posted its largest comeback in seven years to secure Joni Taylor's first top-25 victory in Aggieland over No. 25 Ole Miss, 60-58.
Sitting at 7-6 entering the competition, the Aggies entered the Sunday afternoon affair off an encouraging half of basketball against No. 15 Tennessee on Thursday.
In the loss to the Lady Vols, A&M trailed by 22 at the break but fought back to close the gap in the conference opener.
Similarly, the Aggies stared another deficit in the face vs. the Rebels.
Displaying a lights-out defensive performance, A&M held Ole Miss to just 17 second-half points en route to its first ranked win since Gary Blair's Ags took down No. 5 South Carolina on Feb. 28, 2021.
"I am extremely happy for our players that they are continuing to take steps in the right direction and trust the process," Taylor said. "We still have work to do, but when you have a team that continues to fight and take instruction and hard coaching and believe, then you have a ton of possibilities. I am proud of their effort and resilience.
"We tell them what they’re capable of. They know what they’re capable of, but getting a top-25 win at home is huge for them and their belief."
Not making a single field goal in the fourth frame, Ole Miss' double-digit advantage quickly vanished.
Point guard Solè Williams stepped up to fuel A&M's charge. After Janae Kent's 3-pointer tied the game, Williams followed suit with 2:50 to go and sunk a massive triple to stake A&M to its first lead.
"It felt great," Williams said. "I haven't been as consistent as I should be with my shot this whole season. Knowing I was able to show up for my teammates in a crucial moment, it felt amazing."
Up by four, Ole Miss' Kirsten Deans hit three shots at the charity stripe to cause some worry. The Rebels got the ball back with six seconds remaining, but the home squad held strong to finish off the largest comeback since March 18, 2018, when the Aggies beat DePaul in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Trailing for 34 of the 40 minutes, A&M struggled to take care of the ball early, with 11 turnovers and just 24 shot attempts in the first half. Ball insecurity allowed the Rebels' lead to swell, who entered the contest No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense.
However, after the break, A&M's defensive prowess took over.
"Six points in the fourth quarter is pretty impressive for a team that can score the way they can," Taylor said. "We knew we were going to have to stand on our defense in the fourth quarter. To only give up 17 points and outscore them is tremendous."
Jada Malone initially emerged as A&M's most efficient scoring threat. Battling in the paint, the Aggie backcourt continued to feed the 6-foot-3 forward, who had 10 points at the half. Malone finished with 14.
Sunday's victory saw a team effort offensively as A&M's leading scorers, Aicha Coulibaly and Sahara Jones, only combined for 13 points.
On the opposite end, A&M held two-time SEC Freshman of the Week Sira Thienou without a single point in the second half and a season-low 58 points for the Rebels.
"We had built a comfortable lead, and I thought our team started to get full of themselves," Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said. "We completely lost our identity. We talked to them at halftime about them making a run back, and we needed to be solid and consistent. The last 20 minutes, we got beat to every 50-50 ball. They wanted it more than us."
In a league where wins are hard to come by and everything means more, A&M's willingness to fight was rewarded.