A&M Rally Falls Just Short vs. LSU

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Danielle Ballard scored 22 points and fourth-seeded LSU beat fifth-seeded and No. 18-ranked Texas A&M 71-65 on Friday to advance in the SEC tournament.

LSU (17-12) will face top-seeded and No. 3-ranked South Carolina (28-2) in the semifinals on Saturday.

Ballard was 8 of 16 from the floor with 10 rebounds. Raigyne Moncrief had 14 points and DaShawn Harden added 10.

Texas A&M (23-9) was led by Courtney Williams with 19 points and Curtyce Knox had 12.

LSU scored the first 13 points of the game, holding Texas A&M scoreless almost five minutes in as the Aggies missed their first eight shots. Texas A&M finally got going, but trailed by that same 13 points, 44-31, at the break.

The Aggies chipped away in the second half and got it to three on Williams' jumper with 1:35 to go, but LSU made 9 of 10 from the line down the stretch to hold on.

Notes

TEAM NOTES
• A&M was down 19 points with 11:40 left in the first half, but rallied back to cut the deficit to as close as 63-60 with 1:32 to play.
• Texas A&M is 17-5 in conference tournament games since 2008 and 5-2 in SEC Tournament games

PLAYER NOTES
• Courtney Walker passed 2011 Final Four MOP Danielle Adams (2009-11, 1,386 points) for eighth on Texas A&M's career scoring list. Walker has 1,391 career points.
• Courtney Williams has scored in double figures for the fifth straight SEC Tournament game, dating back to the 2013 tournament, 22nd time this year and 56th time in her career.
• Courtney Williams tied a career high with six assists. Williams has had 5+ assists in four of her last five games.
• Williams averages 12.6 points for her career in SEC Tournament games
• Curtyce Knox scored in double figures for the third time this year.
• Achiri Ade passed Danielle Gant's 2007-08 season (257) for 10th on A&M's single-season rebound list. Ade has 259 rebounds this year.
• Ade had 10+ rebounds for the 10th time this season and 16th time in her career.
• Achiri Ade attempted and made her first career 3-pointer with 10.1 seconds to play.
• Jada Terry has made 21 of her last 24 field goals (87.5%), dating back to Jan. 4

COACH NOTES
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 695-281 in his career and 287-118 at Texas A&M. He needs five more wins to become the 15th Division I coach with 700 wins.

RECORDS/WHAT'S NEXT
• LSU is 17-12 on the season, while Texas A&M falls to 23-9
• The Aggies await selection in a postseason tournament. The NCAA Selection Show is Monday, March 16 at 6 p.m. CT