After a sputtering offensive start threatened to end Texas A&M women’s basketball’s chances, a dominant defensive performance in the second half proved decisive in a 57-45 win against Syracuse in its first game of the SEC/ACC Challenge at Reed Arena on Wednesday.

Career-high 14-point performances from both sophomore LSU transfer guard Janae Kent and freshman G Taliyah Parker gave the Aggies’ offense just enough to pull A&M to a 5-4 record on the year.

“We knew we needed this win,” Kent said. “The Bahamas was rough for us, and just coming back into practice [we knew] we really needed this win and really wanted this win. So, we came in and attacked practice every single day to come out here and get this one. …We know [the] SEC is the best conference, so we wanted to put that out there.”

A&M’s lack of precision in the first quarter put the Aggies in a hole they would spend the entire first half clawing their way out of.

With 6:43 left in the first quarter, the Orange took a 7-0 lead before A&M coach Joni Taylor called a timeout to regroup. Syracuse was 3-of-7 from the floor, including 1-of-3 from three-point range, while A&M went 0-of-4. The Aggies also turned the ball over twice.

As the rest of the quarter unfolded, A&M still struggled to take care of the ball, turning the ball over six times. The sloppiness continued for the offense as it went on a 4:19 field goal drought, including a Parker miss on a fastbreak layup.

“I thought we were really soft to start the game,” Taylor said. “I think it changed after that timeout and it was like, ‘Hey, wake up. What are we doing?’ … From that moment on we were just consistently solid in how we defended and how we executed.”

Syracuse’s 7-of-15 shooting powered it to a 15-10 lead after the first period, with freshman forward Keira Scott scoring seven points on 100% shooting.

The Maroon and White only shot 3-of-12 with one assist, in large part due to the Orange managing to keep the Aggies from the paint, with only redshirt junior F Jada Malone’s four points coming from the lane. The Aggies left points on the table, with redshirt senior F Lauren Ware missing two minimally-contested layups.

The tide began to turn in the second quarter. With 4:37 left to go in the half, Syracuse was in the midst of a nearly-four-minute scoring drought. The Orange shot only 28.6% from the field in the second quarter, including the team’s third-highest-scoring player, sophomore G Sophie Burrows, going 0-of-5.

While offense still wasn’t coming easy for A&M, Kent started to get her offensive game going. The Oak Forest, Illinois product’s six second quarter points drew the Aggies within two points, heading into the break down 26-24.

A&M’s defensive identity began to shine in the second half once redshirt senior G Aicha Coulibaly’s jumper put the Aggies up 28-26 in the lone lead change of the game. In the third quarter, A&M shot 60% compared to Syracuse’s 13.3%. A&M began to rotate more effectively on the defensive end and stifled one of the nation’s better three point-shooting teams, not allowing a single make in the second half.

The Aggies’ offense became stagnant at the beginning of the fourth quarter, going nearly four minutes without scoring to start the final frame, which allowed the Orange to chip away at the lead. Syracuse senior G Georgia Woolley has been prolific this season in averaging 15.9 points per game, but the A&M paint defense forced her into a 1-of-7 shooting performance down the stretch in an 11-point performance.

With 4:48 left in the game, Scott drained a jumper to pull the Orange closer at 47-45, but it would be Syracuse’s last points of the game. A&M dominated the defensive glass with 16 boards to Syracuse’s seven in the second half.

Kent took over for the Aggies, scoring five points down the stretch to take control of the game before Parker’s three-point dagger with 1:18 left sealed the deal for the win.

“We just took pride in the details, and we just kept fighting the whole game, which we’ve been stressing all year, and we finally got it done,” Kent said.

A&M continues its power conference competition at 3 p.m. Sunday when it hosts No. 13 Kansas State at Reed Arena.