Credit to Brandon Collins | Associate Director, Athletics Communications – 12thman.com
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Tineya Hylton sank four foul shots in the last 19 seconds to lead the Texas A&M women’s basketball team to a 69-67 victory over the Missouri Tigers in Thursday’s SEC clash inside Mizzou Arena.
Lauren Ware led the Aggies with a career-high 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field. She added nine rebounds, including three on the offensive end.
Texas A&M (15-4, 3-3 SEC) trailed 63-61 with 1:56 left in the contest before Ware sparked a late surge. First, she made a game-tying layup at the 1:30 mark with an assist from Aicha Coulibaly.
After Missouri’s Hayley Frank missed a jumper, Ware snatched the rebound and was fouled, sending her to the charity stripe. Ware sank both free throws to put the Aggies up, 65-63, with 53 seconds remaining.
Frank tied the game with two foul shots, but turnovers by both teams gave the Aggies the ball with the chance to go ahead. Sahara Jones missed a 3-pointer, but Hylton got the rebound and was fouled as she was exiting the lane for the recycle. Hylton smoothly sank both free throws for the 67-65 lead with 19 seconds remaining.
After another Missouri turnover, Hylton was sent to the charity stripe again, making two more for a 69-65 edge with 10 seconds on the clock.
Frank made a layup with three ticks left, but Missouri was unable to get a steal or foul in the waning moments as Texas A&M milked the clock.
The win snapped a 13-game SEC road winless streak for the Aggies. Texas A&M also reached its highest overall win total since the 2020-21 campaign.
In her first start of the season, Hylton ended the game with 10 points, three rebounds and two steals while matching a career-high with six assists. Jones registered 14 points, a season-high eight rebounds and two steals. Coulibaly stuffed the stats sheet with nine points, seven rebounds and six assists.
The Aggies smothered the Tigers early with a 12-0 run featuring six points apiece from Jones and Ware to take a 15-4 lead at the 2:54 mark of the first quarter. Texas A&M went into the first intermission with a 15-6 edge holding Missouri to its lowest scoring quarter of the season. The Maroon & White owned a 14-4 advantage in rebounds and held the Tigers to 15.4% (2-of-13) shooting from the field, including 0-of-6 from 3-point range.
Missouri was able to get back in the fray heading into halftime behind improved shooting and a 7-1 second-quarter foul disparity in the Tigers’ favor. Mizzou hit 54.5% (6-of-11) from the field and made 5-of-7 from the charity stripe while the Aggies were not granted a trip. The Tigers cut the lead to four points on two occasions late in the quarter, but Jones made a jumper with four seconds remaining to send Texas A&M to the locker room up 31-25. Despite Missouri’s second quarter surge it was the Tigers’ lowest first half scoring output of the season.
Coulibaly and Ware combined for 13 points to carry the Aggies through the third quarter with a 48-44 cushion. Missouri’s Frank hit the first of her three 3-pointers of the period to cut the deficit to 31-28 at the 8:56 mark. Texas A&M slowly stretched the gap back out to nine points on three occasions but was unable to break away. After Coulibaly made a layup to give her seven points in the quarter and stake the Aggies to a 48-39 advantage, the Tigers scored the last five points of the period.
Grace Slaughter hit back-to-back 3-pointers at the 7:18 mark of the fourth quarter, giving Missouri its first lead since the opening basket of the game, 52-51. The lead changed hands four times over the next six minutes before A&M’s late run.
Up Next
The Aggies will travel to Florida to take on the Gators Sunday, Jan. 28 at 12 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
The Aggies pushed their series record against Mizzou to 21-12 all-time.
Joni Taylor’s career record improves to 164-99 all-time and to 24-24 in her two seasons with the Aggies.
TEAM NOTES
The Aggies are now 4-0 after a loss this season, winning by an average margin of 20.9 points in those ball games.
A&M is now 21-1 when leading after the first quarter under Taylor.
The Maroon & White recorded their first SEC road win of the Joni Taylor era and the first since winning at Kentucky on Feb. 6, 2022.
The A&M defense held Missouri to its lowest scoring output of a quarter (6) in the first frame. The Aggies also held the Tigers to just 25 points in the first half, tied for the fewest first half points by Mizzou this season.
Texas A&M began with a starting lineup of Endyia Rogers, Aicha Coulibaly, Tineya Hylton and Lauren Ware (1-0). This was Hylton’s first start of the season.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Lauren Ware
Posted a career-high 22 points and 10 made field goals.
Sahara Jones
Scored in double figures for the third-straight game.
Averaging 15.3 points per game over the last three outings.
Tineya Hylton
Matched her career high of six assists.
Aicha Coulibaly
Posted a season-high six assists.