Aggie Women's Hoops falls to MSU in SEC Tournament semifinals, 70-55

The No. 15 Aggie women’s basketball team was not able to hold off the No. 2 team in the nation in the SEC Tournament semifinals, falling to Mississippi State in Nashville, 70-55.

The Aggies were able to give the Bulldogs trouble in the first half. Freshman guard Chennedy Carter was able to attack the basket well and found Khaalia Hillsman inside for points. A&M went into the locker room at the half down 36-28, but the Aggies couldn’t mount a comeback.

Carter did all she could offensively, finishing the contest with 27 points. Danni Williams struggled to make shots, going 3-11 from the field and finishing with nine points.

In the third quarter, Victoria Vivians caught fire from behind the arc, sinking three three-pointers and helping the Bulldogs pull away. She scored 11 points in the third frame and finished the game with 22. Morgan William followed Vivians, dropping 15 points with five assists.

Three Bulldogs scored in double digits, including Vivians (22), William (15) and Roshunda Johnson (13).

During the second half, the Aggies had trouble defending the three-point line and gave up six three-pointers.

Mississippi State’s Tearia McCowan did a good job of keeping A&M center Khaalia Hillsman out of the action. Hillsman finished with eight points — down from her season average of 14.6.

Anriel Howard was unstoppable on the boards, grabbing 17 rebounds for A&M, but ran into foul trouble late in the game. A bright spot for A&M was their free throw shooting as the Aggies went 8-9 from the foul line.

Mississippi State will take on either Georgia or defending champion South Carolina tomorrow night in the conference championship game.

A&M will return to action March 16-19 for the NCAA Tournament. ESPN’s bracketology expert Charlie Crème projects the Aggies will be a No. 4 seed. The selection show will air March 12 on ESPN.