Brandon Collins | Associate Director, Athletics Communications – 12thman.com
AUBURN – The Texas A&M women’s basketball team was unable to cash in on a strong defensive effort in Sunday’s 57-41 loss to the Auburn Tigers inside Neville Arena.
The Aggies held Auburn to 32.2% (19-of-59) shooting from the field and logged 14 steals. Texas A&M (18-9, 6-8 SEC) committed a season-high 29 turnovers while notching five assists and were without the services of starting point guard Endyia Rogers for the fourth-straight game due to injury. The Aggies, who entered the fray with a +10.6-rebounding margin, were on the wrong side of a 41-30 tally Sunday.
After Auburn (17-10, 6-8 SEC) scored the initial bucket of the game, Kay Kay Green scored seven points to highlight a 9-0 surge, giving the Aggies a seven-point advantage at the 4:56 mark of the first quarter. The Tigers’ Kaitlyn Duhon made a back-to-back layups to get back into the fight and Texas A&M was up 10-6 at the first break.
The Maroon & White managed to score just six points in the second quarter, committing 12 turnovers in the period. With the scored tied 14-14, Auburn outscored Texas A&M 9-2 in the last 3:26 of the half to take a 23-16 lead into the locker room.
The Aggies held Auburn to 22.2% (4-of-18) shooting from the field in the third quarter but were unable to shave the deficit. The Tigers held the Aggies without a field goal the final 4:30 of the period to outscore A&M 7-2 and take a 36-26 advantage into the final intermission.
Texas A&M cut the deficit to 41-33 at the 5:58 mark of the fourth quarter on a layup by Tineya Hylton but would not draw closer the remainder of the game. Hylton was A&M’s top scorer with nine points.
Up Next
The Aggies will return to the hardwood on Thursday, Feb. 29 at 6 p.m. at Tennessee.
POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
Texas A&M is now 17-2 versus Auburn all-time and 1-1 against the Tigers this season.
Joni Taylor’s career record falls to 167-105 all-time and to 27-29 in her two seasons with the Aggies.
TEAM NOTES
Texas A&M began with a starting lineup of Kay Kay Green, Aicha Coulibaly, Sahara Jones, Janiah Barker and Lauren Ware (1-3).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Aicha Coulibaly
Recorded three-or-more steals for the 12th game this season and the Aggies are 8-4 in those games.