Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) Lauren Heard scored a season-high 33 points, Aja Holmes added a career-high 22 off the bench, and TCU surprised No. 18 Texas A&M 87-75 on Sunday.
The Horned Frogs struck early, taking a 19-12 lead through the first quarter before outscoring the Aggies 23-10 in the second quarter for a 20-point halftime lead.
The Aggies trailed by 23 points early in the fourth quarter but closed to within 71-53 with 5:53 remaining. Holmes, who was 6-of-11 from 3-point distance, made her final 3-pointer to stop the Aggies’ momentum.
The 3-pointer was TCU’s last field goal as Heard was fouled seven times in the final minutes and made 13-of-14 free throws. Heard was 18-of-21 from the line for the game and TCU made 25-of-32 free throws as a team. Texas A&M made 20-of-29 from the line.
Kayla Wells scored 20 points to lead the Aggies (9-2), who have lost two of their last three games. Qadashah Hoppie scored 17, Jordan Nixon 13, and Sydnee Roby 10.
TCU (4-4) had lost eight in a row at home in the series and Texas A&M had won 15-of-18 all-time at Fort Worth. The loss also snapped the Aggies’ 11-game winning streak in nonconference road games.
POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
Texas A&M falls to 9-2 on the year.
The Maroon & White is 37-5 against TCU all-time and is 15-3 in Fort Worth.
TEAM NOTES
- Four Aggies scored in double figures for the seventh time this season. A&M is 6-1 in games where four-or-more players score double digits this year.
- The Maroon & White defense forced a season-best 27 turnovers.
- The Aggie bench scored 35 points compared to the TCU second unit’s 34. This is the seventh time this season that the A&M bench has outscored its opponent’s bench.
- A&M utilized a lineup of Jordan Nixon, Sahara Jones, Kayla Wells, Destiny Pitts and Aaliyah Patty for the first time this year (0-1).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Kayla Wells led team in scoring, pouring in 20 points while making 10-of-11 shots from the charity stripe.
- Wells has scored in double digits every game this year. She has now scored 10-or-more points in 76 games throughout her career.
- The Dallas native has scored 20-or-more points in five games this season.
- Wells has now played in 136 games for the Aggies, which is eight games from breaking Karla Gilbert’s program record of 143.
- Qadashah Hoppie scored a season-high 17 points off the bench, going 6-of-11 from the field.
- Jordan Nixon scored 13 points and dished a team-high seven assists.
- Sydnee Roby scored 10 points and went a perfect 5-of-5 on her field goal attempts.
- Sahara Jones made the first start of her career.
- Women’s Basketball Hall-of-Fame head coach Gary Blair falls to 847-335 overall with a 439-172 record since arriving in Aggieland in 2003-04.
- Gary Blair is 6-1 versus TCU head coach Raegan Pebley.
Postgame Quote
Head coach Gary Blair
On the team’s performance…
“I don’t have any excuses. We got beat by a team that played better. They were better prepared. We became a one-pass team in the first half. We would pass it, shoot it, miss it and get outrebounded. That isn’t running an offense. That is just playing rec ball. I have to get better control of my team so that we can run a half-court offense, particularly on the road. In the second half, you have to give my kids credit. We don’t quit. (Lauren) Heard played a magnificent game, and a shooter got off the bench over there and did what she does well. (Aahliyah) Jackson did a great job of playing defense, which is what she did for me as well when she played here. I am glad our kids didn’t quit. We are going to work on our mistakes. We know what our mistakes are, who we are and what we can become. We aren’t close to where we want to be and that all starts with the head coach first.
Up Next
The Aggies will return home to play Rice on Sunday, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m.