No. 18 Kentucky women’s basketball (18-7, 5-6 SEC) is set to host Texas A&M (9-10, 2-8 SEC), looking to get back to winning ways after suffering back-to-back losses.
After falling to No. 7 Vanderbilt and No. 4 Texas last week, the Wildcats are now sitting with a losing conference record for the first time this season. Following the losses, Kentucky fell two spots in the AP poll.
At one point in the season, Kentucky saw the No. 6 spot.
Looking at the stats on the season, Kentucky should be the team to take the gamble on in Thursday’s matchup.
Kentucky, however, is also not a team to bet on for beating the seemingly easy opponents.
The Cats are one of the most talented teams in the nation. However, they have seemed to struggle in this last stretch of SEC play.
Historically, this is only the 17th meeting between the two teams, with Kentucky trailing the Aggies 11-5 all-time and 5-2 in Lexington.
The Cats have lost the last five meetings against Texas A&M dating back to Jan. 7, 2021.
Kentucky’s most recent victory over the Aggies was in Historic Memorial Coliseum on Jan. 16, 2020, topping Texas A&M 76-54.
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For the Wildcats, this season has revealed the ups and downs of the SEC, and just how challenging it has proved to be this year.
The Cats have upset the likes of No. 5 LSU and also fallen to unranked conference teams.
Right now, Kentucky is averaging 76.6 PPG compared to the Aggies’ 64.2 PPG.
By the numbers, the Cats objectively are stronger this year.
Kentucky actively has four starters and a reserve averaging double-digit PPG. The only starter who isn’t averaging that same stat is Jordan Obi, who is currently sitting at 9.9 PPG after scoring below her season average in each of the past two contests.
Clara Strack leads the Cats in scoring with 16.0 PPG, 10.5 RPG and 2.6 BPG.
Shooting some of the strongest numbers from all over the field is guard Tonie Morgan, who is shooting 48.1% from the field, 40.9% from beyond the arc and 74.6% from the charity line.
Kentucky leads Texas A&M in almost every category, including RPG, APG, BPG and overall, every margin from the field. The Aggies take the cake in SPG with 10.0 compared to Kentucky’s 5.9, and commit more turnovers per game.
Recently, however, Kentucky has been leading on the court in turnovers.
Against Vanderbilt, the Cats committed 20 turnovers and allowed the Commodores to capitalize on 25 points off of them.
Similarly, against Texas, Kentucky had 23 turnovers, enabling the Longhorns to score 19 points.
In Texas A&M’s last matchup, it took down No. 21 Alabama 72-69, earning its first ranked win since Jan. 25, 2025.
The Aggies’ last-ranked win actually happened to be against then No. 11 Kentucky, where they defeated the Wildcats 61-55.
Leading the Aggies against Alabama was Ny’Ceara Pryor, who put up 20 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals.
Pryor has over 2,000 career points and is the only player in the country ranked in the top 10 of SPG (3.6) and APG (6.7).
She sits at No. 7 and No. 8 in the nation for her average steals and assists, respectively.
Pryor will be the Aggie most likely to cause trouble for the Wildcats, with her versatility stretching across all facets of the game, and her steals being a recipe for trouble paired with Kentucky’s recent turnover stint.
Pryor joined Texas A&M from Sacred Heart, where she averaged 18.6 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 4.2 APG and 3.7 SPG.
In Kentucky’s last showing, Asia Boone led the scoring on the night from the bench.
Booned capped the night with 16 points, shooting 4-6 from beyond the arc and 2-2 from the charity line.
Kentucky saw complications on the night after managing to tie the score at 28 apiece.
After sharing the scoreline with seven minutes left in the third quarter, Kentucky didn’t put up points until Strack went to the line at 9:10 in the fourth quarter, where she shot 1-2 from the charity line.
In this same amount of time, Texas managed to stretch the deficit to 13 points.
It didn’t see its first points from the field until a layup from Teonni Key with 8:25 left in the game.
Although it was a hard loss for the Wildcats, Kentucky managed to hold the Longhorns to 64 points, which is just the second time in the Longhorns’ last 52 games at the Moody Center that they’ve been held to 64 or fewer points.
The Cats also held Texas to 27.3% shooting in the second half.
Although the Cats are the favorite, don’t count out Pryor and the Aggies from causing trouble in Historic Memorial Coliseum on Thursday.
Kentucky women’s basketball will host Texas A&M on Thursday, Feb. 12, hoping to secure a victory and better its odds at a higher seeding as it looks towards the postseason. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST and will air live on SEC Network.
