Pryor & Janneh combine for 36 in lopsided loss to No. 8 Oklahoma
Game #10: No. 8 Oklahoma 72, Texas A&M 50
Records: Texas A&M (7-3, 0-1), Oklahoma (13-1, 1-0)
Box Score
When you turn the heat up, sometimes you get burned.
Texas A&M opened up conference play with a blistering loss to No. 8 Oklahoma at Reed Arena on Thursday night, 72-50.
On New Year's Day, most strive to start off on the right foot, but it doesn’t mean your year is doomed if you don’t. The same goes for Taylor’s Aggies.
Although the result may not show it, the Aggies did have a few victories to begin with before things got out of hand.
A&M slowed down Oklahoma's fast-paced style of basketball. A team averaging 96.2 points a game during non-conference play, A&M's defense didn't allow them to sniff that.
“I was pleased with our defensive effort to hold Oklahoma to 28 points at halftime,” head coach Joni Taylor said. “They are one of the best offensive scoring teams in the country right now.
“Defensively, we did some really good things. Offensively, we settled.”
In a league where eight of the AP Poll's top-25 are in the SEC, scoring just 50 points won't fare well.
A low-scoring affair leaned in the Aggies’ favor early, and Oklahoma’s 16 first-half turnovers certainly didn’t help.
Appearing to pull away at the beginning of the second quarter, A&M put a stop to that. Behind a 7-0 run, the Ags went into the locker room down eight to the No. 8 team in the country.
A&M found offensive success through Ny'Ceara Pryor despite the team going 1-for-17 beyond the arc. The Sacred Heart transfer led the charge in her first-ever SEC game.
Pryor finished with 20 points and four steals, but shot 50 percent from the free-throw line.
“It's hard when you lose to give yourself a compliment,” Pryor said. “Today, I tried to stay as involved as I can. They were double-teaming me, but I was still getting involved.”
Fatmata Janneh added a double-double, with 16 points and 10 rebounds. There wasn't much offensive production beyond those two.
For Oklahoma, four-time SEC Freshman of the Week Aaliyah Chavez cashed in early and often. The rookie sank a trio of 3-pointers on her way to 20 points.
The pieces around her came alive late as Raegan Beers and Sahara Williams also scored double figures.
In the paint, Janneh and Beers battled it out, but the Sooners ultimately won that fight too, out-rebounding the Aggies, 63-35.
“They were big,” Janneh said. “Going into this game, we knew we had to stop them from getting paint points. In the first half, we held them to 12 paint points. We were doing good, but we lost that a bit in the second half.”
After the break, the Sooners sped away. The home squad scored just seven points in the third, while OU scored 23.
“That one quarter just really was the separation, but in this league, that one quarter is the difference in being in a game and not being in a game,” Taylor said.
Although the burn stings, the Aggies can't dwell on the loss long.
“We got thrown into the fire tonight,” Taylor said. “Other than Lauren (Ware) and Janae (Kent), there's nobody on our roster who has played in this league.
“It's why you come to this league. We all have a good understanding of what it's going to feel like and what it will look like. The conversation we have is, tomorrow in the film room, we have to have fresh eyes.”
The Ags will get back to work, taking on Georgia on the road on Sunday, Jan. 4, at 1 p.m. CT.