WBB: Sessions' free throw beats Texas A&M

Photo Gallery by Paul Collins and Chris Gillespie

South Carolina beat #15 Texas A&M 59-58 to stay undefeated. Khadijah Sessions made a free throw with 0.9 seconds left to secure the win.

Nearly three years since the last time the Gamecocks lost a home game, and facing the team that last beat them in Columbia, the 43rd home win in a row was the wildest. The Gamecocks led by six with 2:43 left, but missed free throw down the stretch to give the Aggies life.

From the time South Carolina went up 6 at 55-49, A'ja Wilson and Tiffany Mitchell both missed two free throws, and Sessions made only two of her four attempts. Mitchell missed her free throws with 19 seconds left and South Carolina up two. Jordan Jones drove and was fouled by Wilson. With the crowd at Colonial Life Arena roaring, she missed the first. Jones made the second, even though she was supposed to miss, and Sessions was fouled with 3.4 seconds left. She also missed the first but made the second, enough to seemingly secure the win. Then came the first improbable play.

Taylor Cooper, who played less than a minute the entire game, threw a full court pass to Chelsea Jennings. Jennings got behind the South Carolina defense and made the layup with 0.9 seconds left on the clock. As the Texas A&M bench spilled onto the court, South Carolina inbounded the ball to Sessions, who was immediately fouled by Shlonte Allen. Allen, who was on the court for just four seconds the entire game, was unaware the game was tied, thinking Texas A&M was still behind.

Sessions, a career 66 percent free throw shooter, got two chances to win the game. Her first attempt rimmed out, but she calmly sank the second to give South Carolina the lead. Mitchell stole the inbounds pass to secure the win.

"I was nervous, but I knew I had to make one of the free throws," Sessions said. "I just concentrated and made the second one. I'm not saying it was easy, but it went in."

Sessions finished the game with eight points, two rebounds, two assists, four steals, and countless other plays on defense. She did all of that after leaving the game in the first half with a painful thigh bruise.

"I'm in some pain, but I've got to push through for my team," Sessions said. "I'm a senior, so I've got to do whatever it takes."

Staley said she knew Sessions would come back in the game, and doesn't expect her to miss any time.

"I wasn't really surprised" Sessions returned, Staley said. "I was happy that we had her still able to play. If she could walk, she was going to play."

After the game, Texas A&M players and coaches bristled at the suggestion they tied the game on a miracle shot.

"I wouldn't call it a miracle," said Jones, who finished with 17 points before fouling out. "We work on these situations in practice. Taylor Cooper made a great pass. Chelsea Jennings did exactly what we wanted her to do."

"That wasn't no miracle damn pass," Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said. "That was a set play. I brought a kid in off the bench, Cooper, who can make the baseball play, and she threw the thing. That wasn't no miracle layup. That's something that we work."

Staley said the Gamecocks were prepared for the play, but it still caught them off guard.

"It happened so fast," she said. "I almost didn't believe the layup went in. As coaches you can review and go over those late game situations. As much as you do it, it can turn out looking like that. Things are so unpredictable."

Blair shouldered the blame for critical mistake by Allen. Allen has played only 91 minutes this season after suffering a leg injury last year.

"I don't even know if she knew the game was tied or not. I'll take blame for that," Blair said. "That was not knowing the game. We weren't trying to steal the ball. I'll take blame because that was her first play of the game, and she needs to be in more of those situations."

Blair also said Texas A&M had the wrong person inbounding on the game's final play. But with the crowd at a deafening roar, his team couldn't hear the play called.

"There's no way I wanted Rachel Mitchell throwing in the ball," he said. "But when you've got 15,000 (fans), my kids couldn't hear me."

The Gamecocks knew the crowd affected the game.

"If we didn't have that atmosphere, who knows what the game would have been," Sessions said.

"I don't think we would win (...) any other place," Staley said.

Wilson finished with 26 points, eight rebounds, and tied her career-high with eight blocks. It was the second game in a row she had eight blocks. Mitchell struggled to shoot the ball, scoring only 11 points on 4-13 shooting, despite playing all 40 minutes. Bianca Cuevas chipped in nine points off the bench, and made several key plays in the fourth quarter.

The Gamecocks shot just 10-18 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. They were also outrebounded 43-33, despite 11 rebounds from Alaina Coates. It was her sixth straigh game with double figure rebounds, and ninth in the last ten games. it was only the second time this season the Gamecocks have been outrebounded.

"I'm proud of my little munchkins," Blair said.

Notes:

The Gamecocks and Aggies both wore "We back Pat" warmup shirts to bring awareness and recognition to The Pat Summitt Foundation. The Pat Summitt Foundation was formed to fight Alzheimer's disease. ... Before the game, Dawn Staley presented Alaina Coates with a game ball in recognition of Coates scoring her 1,000th career point against Kentucky. ... Attendance was 15,406. South Carolina returns to action Thursday night at Auburn.

Blair is one of the more colorful coaches in the SEC. He did not disappoint on Sunday. Asked about Coates and Wilson, he said: "Folks, they're damn good. I'd like to see two sportswriters get in there and guard those two."

Unprompted, he said, "You had the best referees in the game. Well, two of them."

Even though it may have cost him the game, Blair raved about the atmosphere for the game. "I'm so proud of the atmosphere that South Carolina puts on. Y'all know you even sell shrimp and grits and chicken and waffles up there? You've figured it out. It's very special. We all lived off of Tennessee for about 20 years. We're not living off Tennessee anymore. South Carolina has set the blueprint with what they're doing, the creative stuff. Hopefully the rest of us will follow."