In a span of two days, Reed Arena was host to two come from behind victories favoring the Aggies in both occasions. However, the A&M women’s basketball 15 point comeback to defeat LSU 54-52, proved to be slightly more thrilling than the men’s just less than 24 hours before.
LSU took an early lead and held on to it for the most part, increasing it to 15 at one point early in the second half. The Aggies then went on several small runs until finally tying up the game at 49 on a three-pointer from senior Taylor Cooper.
LSU then regained the lead  by hitting three free throws in one possession until Khaalia Hillsman tied the game up again at 52. The Aggies then had the ball with 15.5 seconds left in the game when Anriel Howard banked in a shot with 3.6 seconds left. The tigers were unable to a get a shot to go in at the buzzer, giving the Aggies a 54-52 win.
“I’m pleased with how hard we felt like we competed,” LSU head coach Nikki Fargas said. “And how we felt like we were in control of the game for most of the game until we let the lead dwindle and weren’t able to put together a run for our ourselves. From an offensive standpoint, I felt like we weren’t able to execute as well as we needed to and Texas A&M did.”
Junior Raigyne Moncrief, sophomore Chloe Jackson and senior Alexis Hyder led the way for the LSU Lady Tigers. Moncrief contributed everywhere for LSU, scoring a game-high 18 points, while adding nine rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals. Jackson scored 12 points and added three rebounds, while Hyder scored nine points and added five rebounds.
“Give Moncrief a whole lot of credit,” A&M head coach Gary Blair said. “That’s as good as I’ve seen her, she redshirted last year, I thought we did a good job on Jackson, but Moncrief is a next level player, she can beat you off the dribble, and she’s a great defensive player.”
For the Aggies, junior Khaalia Hillsman, senior Curtyce Knox, and sophomore Anriel Howard led the way. Hillsman was A&M’s go-to offensive option and contributed 13 points and nine rebounds. Knox scored 12 points and had six assists, and Howard had seven points, including the game winning basket to give A&M the 54-52 lead, and also added 11 rebounds. 
“Well today wasn’t my finest offensive hour,” Hillsman said. “They still have a lot of faith in me, and it won’t happen too many times when I shoot 6-13, but them having confidence in me just helped me keep going and keep posted and keep going strong even though [Alexis] Hyder was so physical, so it motivated me.”
A&M will have a week off before they take on No. 4 Mississippi State next Sunday in Humphrey Coliseum. The matchup will air on the SEC Network and tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.