Taylor's #16 Aggies face #9 Lady Vols in first round of SEC Tournament

Texas A&M head coach Joni Taylor overviews #16 Texas A&M's Wednesday's early tip against #9 Tennessee in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Taylor mentioned the resilience the team has built across a tough season when she joined us on TexAgs Live on Tuesday.

Key notes from Joni Taylor interview

• I think it's important to focus on what is in front of us. Whether it's an SEC Tournament or not, it's finding ways to get caught up. We need to get to the next thing to make that happen.
   
• Watching film from our first game against Tennessee, it was the first SEC game for us. They are different, and we are, too. We will practice a little later today and play as hard as we can. Because of where we are, this is our last opportunity to play basketball this year. They work hard. They just need to put it all out there.
   
• There is a resilience that they have developed over the season. It's not where we saw ourselves going this season, but they have learned to find mini-goals inside the game. What can we do, and where can we find success? There are times when, defensively, we execute, and the game gets away from us. It's focusing on those moments and going from there.
   
• As we go into the SEC Tournament, we have to be intentional. Sahara Jones and Lauren Ware are who we look towards to lead our team. There are a lot of things happening in and around the tournament, but they know what they look like. It's a quick turnaround for us.
   
• Jada Malone has a great knack for getting into a position. She has a good understanding of the game and what she needs to do. There was a time when she got frustrated, but I think it's about offensive rebounding and getting set up. For her, since we've had our injuries, we have continued to find ways to get past this.
   
• We're looking into game planning and need to execute offensively. It's important to understand that if we are clear and direct, they will be able to follow our lead.
   
• We have learned that you have to take care of the basketball. We can start doing that, but there's a window where they get tired if we aren't detailed in those areas. Our margin of error is small, and it's hard for us to recover from that.