After outsting them in the third round of the 2013-14 NCAA tournament, the No. 5 Texas A&M defeated No. 18 DePaul again Friday night by a score of 76-68 in the McGrath-Phillips Arena in Chicago
Junior Courtney Walker led the Aggies in scoring, as she did in the previous matchup against DePaul, with 25 points — shooting 9-of-19 from the field. This was Walker’s 14^th straight game with double-digit points, dating back to last season, and the 49^th in her three year career.
Jordan Jones, junior guard and 2013-14 SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, garnered her ninth career double-digit scoring game with 10 points on the night. Khaalia Hillsman, the freshman center and Chicago native, also had 10 points in her first collegiate game.
Both Jones and Walker were 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
The Aggies turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, but they left the court at halftime with a one-point lead in large part due to shooting 15-of-28 from the field.
The Aggies never trailed by more than three points.
The game went down to the wire as DePaul tied it up at 66 a piece with under two minutes to play. However, nine points strung together by Walker and Jones squeaked the Aggies past DePaul in a closing 10-2 run.
A&M finished shooting over 50 percent from the field, while the Blue Demons struggled — hitting just 31 percent of their shots. DePaul kept the game close despite the rough shooting night by forcing 25 Aggie turnovers.
The Aggies were without junior forward Courtney Williams, who is serving an indefinite suspension for a violation of team rules.
Four Aggies saw double digit minutes off the bench for head coach Gary Blair, with 76 of the team’s 200 minutes coming from non-starters. Junior guard Chelsea Jennings had three rebounds, six points and a team-high four steals in her 24 minutes off the bench.
A&M returns to action against New Mexico Saturday at 4 p.m.