No. 10 Texas A&M fell in a close game 57-54 to LSU after junior guard Chennedy Carter went out with an ankle injury just before halftime.
The Aggies started off strong with a combined 14 points from junior forward N’dea Jones and Carter to hold onto an 18-15 lead after the first quarter. A&M maintained and furthered its lead in the second quarter. Despite the fact that the Aggies lost Carter with just over three minutes until the half, they ended the second quarter up 32-27.
A&M junior center Ciera Johnson said that losing Carter influenced the team but that they had to finish.
“I mean, for a minute there it was like ‘Dang she’s not coming back.’ But we’ve got to finish out the game,” Johnson told 12thman.com. “Whether she was there or not, we have to finish the game out.”
The Tigers eventually took the lead in the third quarter, but the Aggies responded with a 7-0 push that seemingly took back their momentum. LSU answered with back-to-back buckets to end the quarter, and shortened the Aggies’ lead to one going into the final period.
Despite the fact that A&M maintained its lead for the majority of the fourth quarter, the Tigers hit a jumper with 2:09 to play to go up 55-54, and never trailed again.
For the third time this season the Aggies had two players record a double-double in the same game. Jones posted 19 points and 12 rebounds, making this her fourth straight double-double. Johnson posted 11 points and 10 rebounds.
A&M coach Gary Blair gave credit to the Tigers.
“Both teams played extremely hard. LSU stepped up after their loss against Missouri and played like they should have,” Blair told 12thman.com. “I give them a lot of credit.”
A&M is now 14-2 overall, and 2-1 in conference play. Next, the Aggies will take on No. 14 Kentucky at the Memorial Coliseum on Thursday. Tip off will be at 5:30 p.m.