With junior guard Chennedy Carter out for the third consecutive game after sustaining an ankle sprain against LSU, the Aggies needed a big game from their other starters.
Senior guard Shambria Washington provided just that.
By halftime, she was tied as the Aggies’ leading scorer of the night with nine points, including a jumper with two seconds left in the half to put A&M within four at 36-32 to go into the break.
Washington added another three-pointer at the 1:34 mark of the fourth quarter to put the Aggies ahead 72-71. Though a tie and two lead changes followed, A&M managed to end up on top 79-74.
Washington finished the game with a career-high 20 points, shooting 6-of-8 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from behind the three-point line, helping A&M to a season-best 53.3 percent behind the arc. She more than tripled her point total from the Aggies’ two previous games, in which she had four against Florida and two against Kentucky.
The Aggies were also able to keep the game close throughout, thanks to a double-double performance by junior forward N’dea Jones, who finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Though Jones and A&M got off to a slow offensive start, neither team could build more than a four-point lead in the first quarter. However, Alabama started to pull away at the seven-minute mark of the second quarter, going on a 15-4 run to lead by 11, but the Aggies answered with an 8-3 run of their own to take a 36-32 deficit into the intermission.
Jones started the second half hot, matching her first half total of four points in just the first two minutes.
A&M used a 6-0 run to tie the game at 61 midway through the fourth quarter, and kept toe-to-toe with the Crimson Tide before pulling away with a pair of three-pointers from Washington and junior guard Aaliyah Wilson.
Four free throws to end the game helped the Aggies secure the win, with Washington capping off her night with two points.
A&M’s defense also had a strong game, holding all Alabama players to under 20 points. The Crimson Tide’s Jasmine Walker led the team with 18 points, with junior guard Jordan Lewis following with 17.
The Aggies will return to Aggieland on Sunday to host Missouri at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network+.