A layup by Texas A&M junior guard Chennedy Carter with three second remaining in the game pushed the Aggies to a 70-68 win over TCU on Wednesday.
Carter finished the night with her seventh game of over 20 points this season with 25, including the final seven points of the game. She said no matter the outcome of her shot, she knew A&M would be putting points up on the possession.
“I mean it’s do-or-die time, take the best shot, get into the paint, if I missed I knew that I had two of best rebounders in the country, in my opinion, under the rim,” Carter told 12thman.com. “Regardless of me missing or making it, I knew someone was going to get it and put it back in, so I was just fortunate enough to make the shot.”
Rebounding has been a focus for the team over the last few weeks, and A&M coach Gary Blair said he was not satisfied with A&M’s output as the Aggies outrebounded TCU 39-38.
Junior forward N’dea Jones led the Aggies in rebounds with 11 and added 11 points to record her first double-double of the season.
“We said that rebounding would be the key and we only won the rebounding battle by one,” Blair told 12thman.com. “What hurt us, again, was rebounding with our guards not getting on the defensive boards. It’s been our Achilles heel all year and we haven’t corrected it.”
A&M’s close win gave the Horned Frogs their first loss of the season. Throughout the game, both teams struggled to find an edge, with the largest margin being seven points.
With 32 seconds remaining in the game, Carter gave the Aggies a 68-66 lead, but TCU guard Jayde Woods tied it 20 seconds later. Carter scored again with three seconds remaining. TCU attempted a last-second play to win the game, but the Aggies’ defensive effort shut it down for A&M’s win.
A&M senior guard Shambria Washington said she was proud of the team’s ability to fight through adversity.
“We don’t give up; we fight with each other and for each other and that’s what matters,” Washington told 12thman.com. “When the odds are stacked against us, we just keep pushing and keep fighting, we have grit, we compete, and we’re not going to let anyone outplay us. I know we are going to give each other all that we have for as long as we need to. All 12 of us, were going to fight until the end.”
The Aggies will continue the Big 12/SEC Challenge as they host the University of Houston at 1 p.m. on Sunday.