Aggie Women’s Basketball Falls at Duke, 71-52

WTAW 1620 Aggie Basketball

DURHAM, N.C. – The Texas A&M women’s basketball team’s first road game of the season ended in a 71-52 loss to the Duke Blue Devils Thursday night inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The freshman tandem of guard Sydney Bowles and forward Janiah Barker combined for 28 points to lead the Aggies (2-1). Bowles paced Texas A&M with a career-high 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range. Barker logged 13 points, hitting 4-of-8 from the field, including 2-of-3 from long range. Aaliyah Patty recorded the first double-double of her season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Texas A&M was on the wrong side of the ledger in turnovers (22-11) and fouls (22-17) to help the Blue Devils’ (4-0) cause. Duke hit 22-of-28 from the foul line and owned a 30-8 advantage in points-off-turnovers.

The Aggies were stunted by 11 first-half turnovers. Solid shooting from the 3-point line (4-of-9) and the charity stripe (4-of-4) kept the Maroon & White in striking distance at the intermission, 40-24.

Bowles drained two 3-point field goals early in the first quarter to give the Aggies an 8-6 edge at the 6:32 mark, but Duke responded with an 8-0 run to claim a 14-8 advantage less than two minutes later.

The Blue Devils stretched their cushion to 18-10 with 1:28 on the clock, but a layup and two made free throws by Patty closed the gap to four points before the Duke settled on a 20-14 edge at the first intermission.

Texas A&M started the second quarter hitting just 1-of-7 from the field and were trailing 30-17 at the 5:50 mark. A 3-pointer by sophomore guard Eriny Kindred and two free throws by Barker cut the advantage to eight points at the 4:37 mark, but Duke went on a 10-2 run to close out the first half.

The Aggies shot 57.1% (4-of-7) from the field in the third quarter, but the Blue Devils widened their advantage to 63-38 heading into the final period.

Texas A&M outscored Duke, 14-8, down the stretch with Bowles notching six points in the fourth period, but fell, 71-52.

POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES

  • Texas A&M moves to 2-1 in the 2022-23 regular season.
  • The Aggies’ series advantage against Duke was trimmed to 6-2, including a 1-2 mark in Durham.

TEAM NOTES

  • Texas A&M utilized a starting lineup of Sydney Bowles, Janiah Barker, McKinzie Green, Sahara Jones and Aaliyah Patty for the third time this season (2-1).
  • The Aggies hit 50.0% (6-of-12) from 3-point range, logging their best long-range effort of the season.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Janiah Barker

  • Has averaged 15.0 points over the last two games.
  • Scored 10-or-more points for the second time in her three career games, including the second-consecutive contest.
  • Made the first two 3-pointers of her career, ending the night 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

Sydney Bowles

  • Registered career highs with 15 points and five-made field goals.
  • Drained multiple 3-point field goals for the third-consecutive game, matching a career high with three.
  • Scored 10-or-more points for the second time in her three career games.
  • Led the Aggies in scoring for the second time this season.

Aaliyah Patty

  • Registered season highs in points (10) and rebounds (10).
  • Logged her first double-double of the season, the seventh of her two years at A&M and the 12th in her 111 career games.
  • Scored 10-or-more points for the first time in 2022-23 and the 40th time in her career.
  • Grabbed 10-or-more rebounds for the first time in 2022-23 and the 12th time in her career.
  • Led the Aggies in rebounding for the first time this season.

Up Next
The Aggies return to Reed Arena on Sunday at 2 p.m. against Texas Southern.