The Texas A&M women’s basketball team came out on the short end of a nip-and-tuck affair against the Auburn Tigers, 65-55, in Thursday’s ballgame at Neville Arena.
The Aggies (6-17, 1-12 SEC) trailed 53-52 at the 4:20 mark of the fourth quarter but were unable to wrangle away the lead down the stretch. Sania Wells scored Auburn’s (14-11, 4-9 SEC) last 10 points and hit 8-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final minute to keep the Aggies at bay.
Janiah Barker paced the Aggies with 16 points and seven rebounds. Sydney Bowles registered 12 points, and Jada Malone added 10 points and five rebounds.
The teams played on an even keel for much of the first quarter, but Auburn’s Romi Levy hit a field goal at the buzzer to put the Tigers up 18-16 at the break. Texas A&M led by four points at two different points in the opening act, including 16-12 when Sahara Jones hit a 3-point field goal at the 1:54 mark.
The teams traded buckets early in the second quarter, but Texas A&M went on a 9-2 run to stake claim to a 29-23 advantage at the 1:38 mark. The Aggies led 30-27 at the intermission, with Barker scoring eight points in the second quarter and 12 points in the first half.
The Aggies stretched the lead to eight points, 37-31, with a pair of Barker made free throws at the 7:14 mark of the third quarter, but Auburn outscored A&M 10-4 down the stretch to cut the deficit to 43-41 at the final break.
Jones gave the Aggies a 45-41 edge with a layup in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but Auburn would take the lead on a layup by Aicha Coulibaly at the 7:43 mark and never trail again.
Credit to 12thman.com