After earning consecutive top-15 wins vs. Southeastern Conference opponents for the first time in program history last week, the No. 10 University of Kentucky women’s basketball team continues its difficult stretch of games by traveling to No. 8 Texas A&M on Thursday for an 8:30 p.m. ET tip inside Reed Arena. This is the highest ranked matchup between the two programs.

No. 9 Kentucky
Following the two wins to start SEC play and against Top-15 programs, espnW named Kyra Elzy its national coach of the week and Rhyne Howard its national player of the week.

Howard is leading the Wildcats this season by averaging 18.8 points per game with 7.3 rebounds per game and a team-best 23 3-pointers made. Howard is second on the team with 29 assists and 14 steals. Junior guard Chasity Patterson is averaging 13.8 points per game and leads UK with 32 assists and 44 steals – her steal total also leads the nation. Sophomore forward Dre’una Edwards is averaging 13.5 points per game with a team-best 8.8 rebounds per game and team-high 10 blocks.

No. 8 Texas A&M

Texas A&M enters Thursday’s game with a 10-0 record . As a team, Texas A&M is averaging 83.2 points per game and limiting opponents to 60.6 points per game and has  a +9.9 rebounding margin.

TAMU has four players averaging over double figures this season, paced by Aaliyah Wilson who is averaging 13.5 points per game with 5.4 rebounds per game and a team-best 22 steals. N’dea Jones is averaging 13.3 points per game with 10.0 rebounds per game and is hitting 58.1 percent from the field. Ciera Johnson is averaging 11.1 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while Alexis Morris is averaging 10.1 points per game.

About the Matchup: 
Texas A&M leads the all-time series 6-5, and is 2-3 in Aggieland versus the Wildcats.

The Aggies are 1-9 all-time versus the AP No. 10 team. Their last win came against LSU on Jan. 10, 1989.

A&M head coach Gary Blair holds a 16-8 record over Kentucky throughout his career. This is the first meeting between Blair and the Wildcats’ head coach Kyra Elzy.

Prediction:
Kentucky wins by 3.