No. 22 Texas A&M women’s basketball is back in the win column after a 59-55 victory over SEC opponent Louisiana State University at home on Thursday night.
The Aggies move to 19-5 on the season and 8-3 in conference play, while the Tigers are now 14-9 for the overall season record and 5-6 in the SEC.
A 15-4 scoring run by A&M in the final six minutes of the fourth quarter gave the Aggies the Valentine’s Day win at Reed Arena. A pair of free throws put A&M up 54-51 with just over two minutes remaining. Sophomore guard Chennedy Carter then added two points to keep A&M safely ahead 56-53, and Ciera Johnson tacked on a layup with 26 seconds remaining to seal the win for the Aggies.
A&M head coach Gary Blair said layups and half-court defense were the keys to the Aggies’ win over LSU.
“We shot almost 44 percent because we were able to get a few layups,” Blair said. “The ball bounced our way at the end and a lot of that was just because our half-court defense was pretty good.”
Though she remained A&M’s leading scorer, Carter had a relatively quiet night, shooting only 6-of-17 and scoring 15 points. Carter had previously scored over 20 points in six consecutive games.
Blair said that though Carter didn’t put up her usual numbers, she did help set up sophomore’s Kayla Wells and Johnson to score.
“That’s the most important thing,” Blair said. “The difference in the second half was Shambria [Washington] got six points and [N’Dea] Jones probably got six out of her eight in the second half. I thought our role players really stepped up and did a good job.”
The Tigers out-rebounded A&M 44 to 35. Jones was A&M’s leading rebounder with 15, while LSU’s junior forward Ayana Mitchell led the Tigers with 12. LSU sophomore Faustine Aifuwa added 11 rebounds, notching a double-double for the Tigers with 12 points.
In the first quarter, which ended in a 14-14 tie, the Aggies held the Tigers to just a 31.3 shooting percentage (5-of-16), while shooting 46.7 percent (7-of-15).
The second quarter was equally competitive, with five lead changes until LSU started to pull away toward the end of the first half. A three-pointer by sophomore Jailin Cherry and a layup by Mitchell kicked off an 11-4 scoring run that made the halftime score 31-25.
However, A&M was able to take advantage of LSU turnovers, scoring seven of their first half points after turnovers. Wells said it was those possessions that were the difference maker.
“They were getting extra possessions,” Wells said. “That’s why we lost against Missouri. We needed the extra possessions. Every possession matters.”
The Aggies fared better in the third period, shooting 6-of-12 to go into the fourth quarter trailing LSU 47-43.
Carter opened the fourth period with a three-pointer to put the Aggies within one point. Jones then used a layup to give A&M a permanent lead with 3 minutes and 45 seconds remaining in the game.
The Aggies will take the court again to face No. 5 Mississippi State on Sunday at Reed Arena. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and will be televised on the SEC Network.