Despite a slow first half showing, the No. 20 Texas A&M women’s basketball topped Ole Miss 72-60 Sunday afternoon to extend their win streak to seven.
With the victory, the Aggies now have the longest Southeastern Conference win streak in program history. A&M, who started SEC play 0-2, are 18-4 on the season, with a 7-2 record against conference opponents. Ole Miss falls to a 8-15 overall record and a conference record of 2-7 with the loss.
The A&M defense — which holds opponents to 57.1 points per game — struggled in the first half against Ole Miss, allowing the Rebels to score 20 points in the second quarter and lead 37-34 at halftime.
A dominant third quarter, both offensively and defensively, gave the Aggies the push they needed to stay on top of the Rebels.
In the third quarter, A&M allowed Ole Miss only six points. Sophomore forward N’dea Jones had five rebounds on defense and sophomore center Cierra Johnson added four, the pair contributing half of A&M’s total first-half rebounds. Jones leads the SEC in defensive rebounds and completed the game with 10 total rebounds, eight coming from defense.
Sophomore guard Chennedy Carter led A&M with 28 points in the game, though she didn’t score any in the first quarter. Fourteen of those points come from free throws and made for Carter’s fifth straight game with 20 or more points.
Fellow sophomore guard Kayla Wells followed with 17 points and four rebounds, while Johnson had a total of 13 points and added eight rebounds for the Aggies.
On the other side of the court, Ole Miss senior guard Shandricka Sessom led the Rebels with 17 points and four rebounds, also showing success at the three-point line with only two of her attempts missing the basket.
A&M will face SEC opponent Missouri on Thursday at Mizzou Arena. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.