Despite dominating the first half on both ends of the floor, the LSU women’s basketball team could not hold off a second half comeback by No. 9 Texas A&M and fell to the Aggies 55-48 on Sunday afternoon in College Station, Texas.
The Lady Tigers’ (8-8, 2-2 SEC) defense held Texas A&M (15-3, 3-1 Southeastern Conference)  to a season-low 18 points in the first half, but allowed the Aggies to rally back with 37 second half points.
“We talked about their players and their personnel, how to play them and take the scouting report defense and apply it to the game,” said LSU coach Nikki Caldwell. “In the first half, we did exactly that. We did a nice job of eliminating easy baskets… We fell short of really executing our defensive scheme in the second half.”
LSU’s defense limited Texas A&M to 33.3 percent shooting from the field in the first half and limited Aggies’ junior forward/guard Courtney Williams to six first-half points. Williams entered the game with a SEC-leading 17 points per game.
The Lady Tigers’ defense continued to excel in creating turnovers. LSU came in ranked second in the SEC averaging 12 steals per game in conference play. In the first half, six different Lady Tigers notched a steal.
On offense, LSU dominated in the paint, outscoring the Aggies, 14-8.
Senior forward Sheila Boykin led the Lady Tigers in scoring in the first half with five points. Junior guard Akilah Bethel added another four points off the bench.
“I thought our post-game played tough,” Caldwell said. “I thought we battled in there. Bethel gave us great minutes. I thought Sheila did a nice job for us.”
In the second half, LSU faltered defensively and allowed the Aggies to come back starting with a 5-0 run to open the second half.
Despite ranking last in the SEC in 3-pointers made per game, the Aggies found success from behind the arc.
Sophomore guard Curtyce Knox and junior guard Jordan Jones shot a combined 4-for-6 from 3-point range and combined for 20 points in the second half. Knox provided a spark for the Aggies off the bench after the bench was held scoreless in the first half.
“The three’s that they got, we were nowhere near them,” Caldwell said. “If you give a team and player enough time to line it up, they’re capable of making them.”
The Aggies took the lead with seven minutes remaining, and extended their lead with a 5-0 run over 27 seconds. The Lady Tigers never regained the lead.
The Lady Tigers struggled finding success on the glass down the stretch, tallying only six rebounds after the Aggies took the lead with seven minutes left. During the stretch, the Aggies tallied seven defensive rebounds alone.
“We cannot just leave it up to our postgame to rebound because we are not a big team,” Caldwell said. “Everybody has to be accountable for not only the defensive boards, but also getting in there for those offensive rebounds. We missed opportunities to get all over the glass, but this is a good test for us.”