In an intense SEC rematch, the Texas A&M women’s basketball team squeezed out a 59-55 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks at home Thursday.
The last time the two teams met, Achiri Ade won it for A&M on a layup at the buzzer. The game again went down to the wire, with Jessica Jackson cutting the Aggies lead to one with 34 seconds remaining. A steal from Chelsea Jennings and two clutch free throws with 2.8 seconds remaining sealed the win for the No. 15 Aggies.
Junior guard Courtney Walker praised Jennings after the game.
“She does it everyday and there has been several times where we’ve had a player at that position as the same as Jessica and she’ll come in and put a stop to it and we were able to trust her to do that again today. And she did and made the big play at the end as well as hit the big free throws.” Walker said.
Head coach Gary Blair started sophomore guard Curtyce Knox in place of junior Jordan Jones, who was out with the stomach flu. She did not disappoint, finishing with eight points, five assists and four rebounds.
A&M (19-6, 7-4 SEC) was led in scoring by junior forward Courtney Williams and Courtney Walker, who scored 15 points and 14 points, respectively. Ade added eight boards to lead the team in rebounds.
Early in the first half Texas A&M struggled shooting the ball but ended the half on a 6-0 run, leading 30-23. The Aggies finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field. They capitalized with 12 points off of Arkansas’ 12 turnovers. A&M struggled shooting free throws but was able to get to the line 27 times compared to Arkansas’ 8 attempts.
“I think their confidence should be sky high but then we also realized our depth is very good, we were able to play next-man-up mentality,” Blair said.
The Aggies now sit in fifth place in the SEC standings, half a game behind LSU.
Texas A&M will host Alabama at 6 p.m. Monday in Reed Arena.