Jordan Jones’ high-scoring day was not enough as the No. 4 Texas A&M women’s basketball lost to the No. 3 Texas Longhorns (10-0) in a 67-65 defeat in Little Rock, Arkansas on Sunday afternoon.
As part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge, head coach Gary Blair and his A&M squad found themselves in the highest ranking matchup between the two programs in both schools histories.
Jones put up a career-high 21 while fellow junior Courtney Williams scored 19 of her own in the neutral-site loss over their former conference rival.
The Aggies (11-1) took a 32-31 lead into the half at the Verizon Arena.
Texas head coach Karen Aston opted for a full-court press in much of the second half on defense, resulting in the Longhorns first lead since eight minutes remained in the first half.
With just over 12 minutes remaining, Williams saw her layup travel through the net and give A&M a 52-43 lead. A&M would make just three of their final fourteen shots in the contest.
With 4.6 seconds remaining, Jones dribbled down the court in an attempt to score a three for the win or claim two points and a shot at overtime. A finger roll was sent off by Jones only to rebound off the rim as time expired.
After leading by 47-36 with fifteen minutes remaining in the second half, A&M was then outscored 31-18 for the remainder of the contest.
A&M led Texas in points off turnovers by a mark of 24-6. However, Texas was able to score over half of it’s 67 points in the victory with by way of close range shots from the paint. The full-court press caused chaos and confusion for the Aggie lineup, leading to turnovers, second chance points and fast break opportunities for the Longhorns which they capitalized on for the narrow victory.
Texas has won the previous four meetings against the two schools. Before that stretch, A&M put together a stretch of 11 consecutive victories.
The Aggies are not scheduled to play again until December 29^th against Washington. The next home game is slated for two days later with a 4:00 p.m. showdown against North Texas.