Joni Taylor praises Texas A&M's 'active' start vs. Mississippi State in SEC Tournament

Texas A&M finished the first quarter of their SEC Tournament matchup against Mississippi State with a five-point lead. That advantage for the Aggies was a credit to their energetic start in Greenville according to Joni Taylor.

Taylor assessed the way that her team opened the game in an interview before the start of the second quarter on the SEC Network. She started by discussing the Aggies’ defensive success as they guarded well and put up an effort on the glass.

“I thought we were really active,” said Taylor. “We did a good job of making it hard for Jessika (Carter) to catch it. If she’s shooting the high-post jumper, she’s very capable of making that but we’ll live with that shot. She can’t get it on the block.”

“Then we were just good at boxing them out,” Taylor added. “They’re excellent on the boards. I thought we were really committed to boxing out and making them be one and done.”

Mississippi State started the game by shooting 3/15 (20%) from the field. Two of those were three-pointers within 1:03 of each other in quarter. Beyond that, they scored just two other points from the field on a jumper from Carter with 1:03 left. With those kinds of struggles, they were fairly fortunate to be down only five after the first 10 minutes.

As far as the offensive end, Taylor is now looking for more restraint in order to get what they want. They have gotten into the game more but she’s still wanting them to turn more of their focus back to the paint and at the rim.

“I think we rushed a few and then we settled into it,” Taylor said.

“Got to be able to work the ball inside out,” said Taylor. “We’ve got to get to the green, which, for us, is the paint. So we’ve got to be diligent about doing that and be patient.”

Endyia Rogers reveals her approach in first game back

Texas A&M got a boost for their opening game in the SEC Tournament in the form of a return from Endyia Rogers. It’s her first outing back in almost a month but that isn’t stopping her from making an early impact for the Aggies.

Rogers spoke with the SEC Network on the way to the locker room after her team took a 25-21 lead at the break over Mississippi State. She said that she feels good out on the floor as she regains her footing by playing in a way where she’s comfortable so far.

“I’m kind of just playing my own pace, not letting anybody speed me up,” said Rogers. “I’m still trying to work my way back in.”

Rogers suffered a knee injury back on February 11th in a win over Kentucky. She then underwent a surgery a week later to clean up the issue and hadn’t appeared since for the Aggies until today.

Rogers, a graduate student in her first season with Texas A&M after four at USC and Oregon, is the team’s leader in scoring and assists. She has averaged 12.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, four assists, and 1.3 steals in her 23 games.