Aggie Women’s Basketball’s Late Rally Comes up Short Against No. 3 South Carolina

News release from Texas A&M Athletics: 

The Texas A&M women’s basketball team gave No. 3 South Carolina all it could handle in Monday’s 71-56 loss to the Gamecocks inside Reed Arena.

The Aggies played a hounding defense holding South Carolina 17.7 points below its season average. In the second half, the Maroon & White held the Gamecocks to 9-of-27 (33.3%) shooting from the field, including 0-of-8 from 3-point range. South Carolina missed 11 consecutive field goals during a six-minute span midway through the second half.

Texas A&M (8-10, 1-8 SEC) trailed by just four points with 7:53 remaining in the contest, but played short-handed down the stretch with leading scorers Ny’Ceara Pryor and Fatmata Janneh fouling out. Janneh missed the last 12:33 of the contest while Pryor was sent off with 3:15 remaining.

Pryor logged 14 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Janneh registered 12 points and five rebounds in just 11 minutes on the court. Anita Franchini registered her best performance as an Aggie, posting season highs across the board with seven points, nine rebounds and six steals.

The Aggies charged out of the gate with a 7-5 lead in the first 3:30 paced by Janneh’s five points. The Gamecocks responded with a 15-4 run over a 5:48 period to gain an 18-9 advantage. The Aggie offense found its rhythm to close the quarter, trailing South Carolina 25-18 at the first break.

The second quarter saw the Maroon & White claw within five points after a Janae Kent 3-pointer made it a 30-25 game. Janneh scored 10 points and Pryor added eight in the opening quarters, keeping the Aggies within 10 at 41-31 entering halftime.

Texas A&M outscored South Carolina 16-14 in the third quarter. After the Gamecocks staked claim to their largest lead of the game, 53-37, the Aggies went on a 10-2 rally in the final 2:10. During the run, Pryor knocked down two from triple town, including one at the buzzer to shave the deficit to 55-47.

The fourth quarter started with Salese Blow making 4-of-4 from the charity stripe to pull with four at the 7:53 mark. South Carolina slowly drifted away with Joyce Edwards scoring 12 of her game 28 points in the final 5:24 during a 13-3 surge to the finish line.

The Aggies return to Reed Arena Sunday when they host the No. 21 Alabama Crimson Tide in a 5 p.m. contest.

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