No. 12 A&M moves past LSU 68-54 on BTHO Breast Cancer night
The 12th-ranked Texas A&M women’s basketball did what was expected of them on Thursday night.
Behind 17 points from Courtney Williams, 14 from Courtney Walker and 13 from Chelsea Jennings the Aggies defeated the LSU Lady Tigers on BTHO Breast Cancer night by double figures for the second time this season, this time to the tune of a 68-54 decision at Reed Arena. Earlier this season, A&M (19-7, 9-4) went to Baton Rouge and came out victorious over LSU (8-18, 2-11) 53-35.
The win is A&M’s fourth straight and keeps them firmly in second place in the conference standings.
Abigail Cook, TexAgs
Chelsea Jennings went 6-of-10 from the floor and scored 13 points off the bench in Thursday's win.
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“I like the way we can win and stay ahead of the game even though we weren’t at our best,” said A&M head coach Gary Blair. “We gave up too many second chance points. We have to do better.”
Over the course of the first half, the Aggies and Lady Tigers both hit 10 field goals and shot nearly the same percentage from the field (A&M’s 40% to LSU’s 39%). However, the Aggies forced LSU into committing 13 fouls, including three a piece on Lady Tiger starters Shanice Norton and Alexis Hyder. The Aggies were able to turn those 13 fouls into 18 free throws and hit on 11 of them (61%).
That advantage at the charity stripe allowed A&M to take a 34-24 lead into the locker room at the half.
“When you have to sit two starters because of foul trouble early, that definitely throws the rhythm of our team off,” said LSU head coach Nikki Fargas. “Hyder is someone who has to see the floor and when you’re able to put her on the bench, we’re going to struggle offensively.”
Though the Aggies appeared on their way to a relatively easy victory, the third quarter proved things different as the Lady Tigers outscored A&M 19-14 in the period to draw within five going into the final 10 minutes of play. It was not the first time this season that the A&M's third quarter woes have made things more difficult than necessary.
“We didn’t come out as focused as we usually do,” said Williams. "Coach (Bob) Starkey always challenges us at halftime to have a good third quarter because it is an important part of the game. We should have made the third quarter more of a focal point.”
On their second possession of the fourth quarter, the Lady Tigers scored two on a jumper from Jenna Deemer that cut the A&M lead to just three. But as the better team should, the Aggies stepped up when it mattered most, reeling off a 12-4 run to take a 60-49 lead with 3:45 remaining in the game. That run gave A&M control of the contest for good as the Tigers never drew closer than nine after that point.
In the fourth, Williams and Jennings combined for 10 points including a couple of timely baskets that brought the momentum back to the Aggies.
Abigail Cook, TexAgs
Courtney Williams led all scorers with 17 points and also pulled down six rebounds in the win over LSU.
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“They hit the key shots,” said Blair. “We spread it out and got a couple of easy baskets which we had to have. We never turned it over against their press in the entire ball game.”
For the first time in almost two weeks, A&M point guard Jordan Jones saw game action. In the waning moments of regulation in A&M’s 76-71 overtime win over Tennessee on February 7th, Jones took a hard charge and had been sidelined due to concussion protocol. On Thursday, the senior drew the start and racked up seven points, nine assists, five rebounds and three steals to just two turnovers.
“Those nine assists were solid for us tonight,” Blair said. “I thought she was solid tonight. Defense, she was her normal Jordan tonight. It was just good to get her back in the lineup.”
With three games left in conference play, the Aggies sit alone in second place in the conference standings and in good position to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament next month as long as their winning ways continue against Vanderbilt on Sunday.
But even though the Commodores are sitting with a 4-9 conference record, leaving Nashville with a victory is anything but a given.
“I’ve only won one time at Vanderbilt, and that was at Arkansas,” said Blair. “One time.”
That contest can be seen on Sunday at 4 pm on the SEC Network.
