Aggies unleash disruptive defense and relentless rebounding against No. 8 Oklahoma, aiming to ignite SEC play with a home-court advantage.
Texas A&M women's basketball doesn't get a warm-up lap to start conference play.
The Aggies open the SEC schedule on New Year's Day by hosting No. 8 Oklahoma at 7 p.m. CT inside Reed Arena, and it's the kind of early-season gut check that can set the tone for the entire league grind.
A&M enters with real momentum after a 7-2 non-conference run that included three wins over Power Four opponents.
The Aggies have shown they can handle physicality, pressure, and pace, three things Oklahoma will bring in bulk, while also flashing an identity that travels with disruptive defense and relentless rebounding.
The engine is Ny'Ceara Pryor, who has been doing a little bit of everything and then some.
She's the only player in the country sitting top 10 nationally in both assists (7.7 per game) and steals (3.8 per game), and she's also leading the Aggies in scoring at 16.4 a night.
That's a rare combo - playmaker, scorer, and havoc-creator all rolled into one - and it gives A&M a weapon that can flip a game in a hurry.
If Pryor is the spark, Fatmata Janneh is the anchor.
She's owning the boards, leading the SEC at 11.8 rebounds per game, and she's producing points too, averaging 10.8 to go with those boards.
Oklahoma is ranked for a reason, but any team walking into Reed Arena that can't rebound is asking for a long night, and Janneh is built to make it miserable.
A&M has already turned Reed into a problem this season.
The Aggies are 4-1 at home and winning by an average of 15.4 points per game. They've defended, controlled tempo, and made visiting teams feel every possession.
Last January, A&M knocked off two ranked opponents at Reed, proof that when the building gets loud, weird things can happen to teams with higher numbers next to their names.
That's exactly what the Aggies are chasing again.
A&M hasn't beaten a top-10 opponent since the 2020–21 season, and this is a prime opportunity to rip that page out of the program's recent history.
Oklahoma brings reputation and ranking, but the Aggies bring match-up problems ... Pryor's pressure, Janneh's rebounding, and a home-court edge that has already shown teeth.
Conference play starts now. And for Oklahoma, the first stop isn't friendly.