SPORTS
The Battalion I 3.2.15
4
A&M loses big at LSU without Jones at point
Cody Franklin —THE BATTALION
Junior forward Courtney Williams, shown above in Thursday's home loss to
Missouri, scoring 19 for the Aggies in the 17-point road loss to LSU on Sunday.
By Cole Stenholm
The Texas A&M wom
en’s basketball team con
cluded its regular season on a
sour note Sunday,' dropping
its second consecutive game
in an 80-63 loss at the hands
of LSU.
The No. 12 Aggies, led
by head coach Gary Blair,
marched into the Maravich
Assembly Center in Baton
Rouge with one thing in
mind — win and secure a bye
into their conference tourna
ment’s quarterfinals for their
10th consecutive season.
But the Aggies (22-8, 10-
6), playing without point
guard Jordan Jones, who is
out for the season with a tom
ACL, didn’t embody that
urgency and committed 24
turnovers in the game.
“We were playing for a
top-4 national seed, which
we don’t deserve based on
how we finished our last four
games,” Blair said.
The Tigers (16-12, 10-
6) implemented a full-court
pressure defense periodically
throughout the game and it
gave the Aggies fits, forcing
13 turnovers in the first 13
minutes of action and pre
venting the Aggies from tak
ing advantage of what was an
otherwise efficient first half.
A three-minute first-half
stretch saw six of seven A&M
offensive possessions end in
turnovers. LSU outscored
A&M 13-0 during this se
quence, with nine from senior
guard Dashawn Harden, and
broke the game open, 26-10.
Harden stole the show in
the first period on senior day
with 22 first-half points on
perfect 5-of-5 shooting from
beyond the arc. A Harden
3-pointer with nearly a min
ute remaining secured a 47-
35 lead for the Tigers heading
into the break.
Texas A&M and LSU then
proceeded to exchange buck
ets for a large portion of the
second half. The effort of ju
nior guard Courtney Wilhams
— who finished the game
with 19 points, five assists and
four rebounds — helped the
Aggies stay within striking
distance, but was not enough
to narrow the deficit.
Harden finished with 28
points and was joined in her
scoring charge by junior guard
Danielle Ballard, who also
reached the 20-point mark
while adding seven boards.
A&M assistant coach Bob
Starkey reflected on the dis
appointment surrounding the
A&M squad following Sun
day’s game.
“We’re disappointed with
the way we played,” Star-
key said. “The two things
that stood out to me most
in our play, is obviously we
didn’t take care of the ball.
We turned it over, that led to
points and we did a very poor
job of defending their dribble
penetration. The second thing
I would say is certainly kudos
to LSU. I thought they played
incredibly well. They shot
the ball as well as we’ve seen
them all year long. But we can
only be accountable for what
we can control and there was
some things that we just didn’t
do very well and we didn’t do
them very well from the tip.”
Texas A&M now awaits
the seeding for the SEC
Tournament, which com
mences Thursday in North
Little Rock, Arkansas.
ANALYSIS
Rebounding helps men's hoops find identity
Carter Karels
@CarterKarels
Assuming Texas A&M makes the
big dance, it’s hard to say how well
the team will perform. But one thing
is certain — it keeps improving down
low.
So far, the Aggies have had to count
their success on other team’s failure.
When Ole Miss halted their six-game
winning streak, the Aggies had to wait
for the Rebels to lose their last two
games until they could launch back into
third place.
Moreover, A&M’s only two RPI
top 50 wins came over LSU. However,
at the time of each victory, LSU was
not in the top 50, and the Aggies had
to bank on the Tigers succeeding to
bolster their resume. Fortunately for
A&M, LSU turned around after each
loss and won three straight.
Other than that, A&M has lost every
game against a top-tier program. In
their defense, the Aggies have been
close in those defeats, losing to Ken
tucky in overtime, Arkansas by six and
Dayton by a near buzzer-beater. The
Aggies’ other losses, besides Alabama,
have been decided by 10 or fewer
points.
But close doesn’t count. The Aggies
needed to improve in every facet be
fore the season’s end, and they’ve done
just that.
There’s no question that A&M’s
success lies with Danuel House, who
has garnered more than 20 points in
three of the last four matchups. He has
been the guy in crunch time, but the
bigs down low are contributing to the
Aggies’ prosperity just as much.
Looking strictly at the numbers,
the Aggies usually win when they
outrebound their opponent. They’ve
won the boards in each of their last five
games, and are 4-1 in that span. The
SEC may not have the best athletes and
shooters, but it is full of teams with grit
that can punish others if they aren’t
tough enough. Despite the aggres
sive style of play in their competitors,
the Aggies are 12-1 in the rebounding
battle in their last 13 games.
This recent effort on the boards is
Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION
While junior guard Danuel House has carried the load offensively this
season, a strong rebounding effort has helped A&M survive his off nights.
due in large part to Kourtney Rober
son, who’s peaking at the right time.-
The senior center accumulated just one
double-double — which came in the
Aggies’ early contest against Dayton —
coming into the last four games. He has
since had three.
Jalen Jones adds consistency. Jones
has had single-digit nights just five
times. In the past five games, Jones and
Roberson have each had at least six
rebounds.
Second chance points are heavily
needed for a team that ranks No. 167
in scoring. It allows more opportuni
ties for the Aggies shooters. House
tied his season-high for shots against
Auburn with 20, despite only shoot
ing 30 percent. Aggie fans used to fear
nights when House’s play is rocky, but
rebounding opens up endless oppor
tunities for other shooters like Caruso,
Allen and Fitzgerald. When House was
struggling against the Tigers, Caruso
swooped in and went 4-for-4 from
three and totaled 14 points, while
House and two others also had double-
digit nights.
That 80-55 victory over Auburn was
A&M’s biggest conference victory since
2008. A lot of that had to do with the
Aggies outrebounding the Tigers by
nearly 15.
There will be longer, tougher teams
the Aggies could meet if they make the
NCAA tournament. A&M doesn’t par
ticularly have size on its side, but even
against Kentucky, the longest and most
skilled team in the country, A&M only
lost the battle by one board.
So if you happen to find the Aggies
in your bracket in March, think again
before counting them out because of
their length. Their physicality will hurt
teams.
THEBATT.COM
SPRING FOOTBALL SET TO BEGIN
Among the storylines as spring practice
begins Monday: New defensive
coordinator John Chavis will get his
first look at the A&M linebackers in a
year of defensive change. See story at
tx.ag/batt4.
TENNIS TOPS KENTUCKY AT HOME
In a home matchup to start the SEC
season Friday, the men's tennis
team swept Kentucky, 4-0. A Sunday
doubleheader was suspended for
weather. See story at tx.ag/batt5.
BASEBALL CONTINUED
thriller. A&M trailed 3-0 heading to the
bottom of the eighth inning. The Aggies
then saw heroics from Hunter Melton
and Logan Taylor, as both hit two-run
home runs to give the Aggies a 4-3 ad
vantage. Ryan Hendrix came on in the
ninth to record his second save of the
season to keep A&M undefeated.
AJ Minter also had his longest outing
of the season on the mound Friday night.
Minter went six innings, allowing only
one earned run while striking out seven.
On Saturday, the Aggies again trailed
early, but turned it around with their
bats to take an 8-1 win. In the fourth, the
Aggies scored three runs to give them
selves a lead they would not relinquish.
Great hitting from Hunter Melton and
Nick Banks sparked the Aggies. Melton
went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in the
game, and Banks went 2-for-4 with his
first home run of the season and two
RBIs on the night.
Grayson Long was key in the win. He
started on the mound and went six in
nings, allowing only five hits, one run
and struck out four Dartmouth batters
on the day.
Sunday afternoon, A&M trailed for
the third consecutive game of the week
end. Both teams started hot, scoring a
combined 10 runs in the first three in
nings. However, A&M led 6-4 after
three innings of play and tacked on four
more mns in the fourth and fifth innings
to take a 10-4 lead.
A&M saw great hitting throughout
the lineup. Mitchell Nau was the story
on offense, going 2-for-5 with three
RBIs and a double to his name. Nau is
now hitting .472 on the season with 10
RBIs. Ryne Birk, Hunter Melton and
Nick Banks contributed two RBIs each
in the win.
Through 12 games, Nau said the team
has potential.
“I think we are relendess,” Nau said.
“As far as offense goes, it’s tough. We
don’t have one guy in the lineup where a
pitcher can catch their breath. If a pitch
er makes a mistake in our lineup, he will
get punished.”
Matt Kent was the Aggie starter on
the mound, and after a tough start he
ended with a solid performance. Kent
went six innings, allowed eight hits,
three earned mns and struck out eight.
A&M head coach Rob Childress said
he was happy about his team’s perfor
mance throughout the weekend, espe
cially on Sunday.
“I thought we showed up today with
a sense of urgency,” Childress said.
“Once this game started, I thought we
were very good. [Kent] got us off to a
good start. Give Dartmouth credit, they
punched back. But we were able to re
spond.”
The Aggies now need only five more
wins to reach 1,000 all-time at Olsen
Field.
A&M will return for the final game
of its 13-game home stand against Dallas
Baptist at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday night.
PROVIDED
Shamier Little won the 400 meter during the SEC
Indoor Championships over the weekend.
Pair of 3rd-place
finishes for track
at SEC indoors
Indoor meet a mixed
bag, says head coach
By Seth Stroupe
The Texas A&M track
and field team finished
third in both the men and
women’s division this
weekend at the SEC Indoor
Championships in Lexing
ton, Kentucky.
“There were some highs
and some lows for us to
day,” head coach Pat Henry
told reporters at the conclu
sion of Saturday’s action.
“I’m disappointed with a
number of people and situ
ations today ... We can’t
have those kind of situa
tions in a big meet, we all
need to be prepared and on
the same page. To be third
here with both groups was a
great meet for us, there is no
question about that.”
The No. 7 Aggie women
finished the meet with 81.9
points, a total only bested
by No. 1 Arkansas (130)
and No. 3 Florida (86). The
team was led by a pair of
individual first place finishes
on Saturday.
Senior Hillary Mont
gomery, who set the school
record for the mile earlier
in the season, jumped out
to an early lead in the 5,000
meters and never looked
back. Montgomery won
the event with a time of
16:16.00, and had to make
her way around lapped
competitors to find the fin
ish line. Teammate Grace
Hetcher finished second to
give the Aggies the top two
spots in the event.
“It’s so incredible for us
to come out here and repre
sent Texas A&M like that,”
Montgomery said. “It’s
amazing. We’ve all worked
so incredibly hard and I’m
so happy it paid off. Having
Grace right behind me en
couraged me to keep going
with that pace.”
Sophomore Shamier Lit
tle won the women’s 400
meter with a time of 51.37
seconds. Litde finished
third in the event at last
year’s SEC Indoor and first
at the conference’s outdoor
championship as a fresh
man. Little’s time was the
third-fastest collegiate time
and second-fastest Ameri
can time ever posted.
Senior thrower Brea
Garrett finished second in
the weight toss for the third
consecutive year at the SEC
championship. Garrett also
took fifth place in the shot
put on day one of competi
tion.
The No. 4 Aggie men
also finished third, two
points behind No. 3 Ar
kansas and 17 points behind
No. 1 Florida. The men’s
effort was led by another
title for the 4x400 meter
relay team, which took first
for the third consecutive
year. The Aggie quartet of
Gregory Coleman, Shavez
Hart, Deon Hickey and
Bralon Taplin chased down
Horida on the final lap en
route to posting a facility-
best 3:03.75.
Texas A&M also med
alled in the Distance Medley
Relay, where the team of
Cameron Villareal, Carlyle
Roudette, Gaines Kinsey
and Isaac Spencer took sec
ond with a time of 9:46.00,
lOth-best in school history.
The Texas A&M men
were unable to capture any
individual titles, but Taplin
(400), Hart (200) and La-
tario Collie (triple jump)
each took second place in
their respective events for
the Aggies.
Next up for the Aggie
track team is the NCAA
Indoor Championships on
March 13-14 in Fayette
ville, Arkansas.