For college athletes, the last game on their home court is more than just a game its the culmination of their experience at the University. They want to leave a mark.
Unfortunately for the three seniors on the No. 13 Texas A&M womens basketball team, visiting LSU came prepared to continue its five-game win streak as the Tigers walked away on Sunday from Reed Arena with a 67-52 win.
For senior night, seniors Adrienne Pratcher, Kristi Bellock and Cierra Windham each saw playing time in the Aggies regular season finale.
“I think it is definitely hard being a senior and losing on senior night, Windham said. Just watching was difficult because you obviously want to win. Being with these two girls, we came in together as freshmen and we want to leave our legacy in the right way, so it was hard for us to go out like that.”
The Aggies, fresh off a two-game losing streak to Vanderbilt and Tennessee, were seeking to change their luck with a win. Instead, LSU dismantled the A&M defense behind a flurry of second-half points.
The Aggies began February with a 74-57 victory over LSU in Baton Rouge, La. The Tigers managed to split the series with the win, solidifying its seed in the SEC Tournament.
A&M took an early 8-2 lead, and extended the lead to 22-9 with only five minutes remaining in the first half. But LSU head coach Nikki Caldwell said her team is used to playing from behind.
Were kind of used to getting ourselves in a hole, Caldwell said. Weve done it a lot this year and weve been able to get ourselves out of holes.
During that final span to end the first half, the Tigers went on a 9-0 run to put them within four points of the Aggies going into halftime at 24-20.
The Tigers came out of the locker room on fire, taking a 29-25 lead within two minutes of the start of the second half. A&M continued to fight but was unable to slow down the Tigers momentum as they went up 39-34 with less than 14 minutes left to play.
With 10 minutes left, A&M tied LSU again at 44, but failed to regain the lead. The Tigers drifted away from the Aggies and secured a double-digit lead with five minutes to play. The Tigers would maintain their lead through the remainder of the matchup.
The Aggies ended the game without making a three-point shot. Junior All-American candidate Kelsey Bone shot 6-of-19, the team shot 32 percent from the field and A&M was outscored 47-28 in the second half. A&M now stands at 21-9 overall and 11-5 in conference play, good for a fourth place tie in the conference with South Carolina.
A&M head coach Gary Blair said hes disgusted at losing three straight games.
Am I excited about being the number four seed? Absolutely not. Blair said. But I’m more disgusted at losing three straight games, particularly the last one on our home court in front of a great crowd. When we’re behind, and obviously we’ve been behind the last three ball games, we do not play with a sense of urgency at all.