Sunday's ranked win a sign Taylor & Co. are moving in 'right direction'

Joni Taylor earned the first victory over a ranked opponent of her Texas A&M tenure when her Aggies knocked off then-No. 25 Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon at Reed Arena. The women's basketball head coach joined Tuesday's edition of TexAgs Live to recap the win and more.

Key notes from Joni Taylor interview

• I was so excited for our team because they had worked really hard. We have faced challenges this year that we weren't expecting, but that's life. While we have continued to come in daily and work hard. We understand we must make lemonade when we get some lemons. To get a win like that was really incredible. Their resiliency was great. The Tennessee game gave us a ton of confidence, even though we did not win. Being down 22 points, we were chipping away at it and cutting the lead to single digits. We held Ole Miss without a field goal in the fourth quarter. That's really impressive.
   
• We had been changing our defense up on dead balls. We came out in the third quarter in zone. We were going to do it for a couple of possessions to have Ole Miss think about it. They never adjusted. We rebounded better. We outrebounded them, and they were the No. 7 rebounding team in the country. That was an improvement from the Tennessee game, where they manhandled us on the glass.
   
• We were given a lot of and-1s at half. Our motto is that we can't trade 3s for 2s. We were giving up 3-point plays. We were more disciplined defensively in terms of not fouling and sending them to the line.
   
• We have a point guard who has never played the position. Our two guard is a sophomore who played limited minutes at LSU. Aicha Coulibaly is who she is. She is an amazing player. Our guards off the bench, our backup point guard hadn't played in three years. Our backup three guard hadn't played in two. Our backup three is a freshman. We are really inexperienced. To be in these situations, we have to always be on the right side of that, but we are learning and growing in those moments.
   
• I want to give a huge shoutout to Solè Williams, who managed the game so well on Sunday. Not only did she score, but she was calling the right plays and controlled the game. That is the growth we want to see from all of our players. It is a step in the right direction, and our challenge is to keep them focused and moving in a positive way.
   
• It got really loud in Reed Arena when Williams hit the 3-pointer. The 12th Man was great. They helped us secure the win as well.
   
• I didn't think about it being my first ranked win here. It was the first time A&M had a ranked win since 2021. It speaks to it being one more notch in moving things in the right direction. We want to be a top-25 program. We know it will not happen overnight. The tradition and history of women's basketball is amazing here with what Gary Blair did. When we got here in 2022, we had work to do. Anytime we have a win like we did on Sunday, it's a sign we are doing things the right way.
   
• We start conference with four teams in the top 25 — No. 15 Tennessee, No. 25 Ole Miss, No. 2 South Carolina and No. 10 Oklahoma. That's the SEC.
   
• I am the men's team's biggest fan. I learn so much from what they do and being around them. It is incredible what our men are doing under Buzz Williams.