No. 13 Women's Basketball Rallies To Beat LSU 53-35

Sunday, January 10

Baton Rouge, La.

3:00 PM

Texas A&M

2-112-4; SEC

LSU

1-27-9; SEC

#13/10 Texas A&M

LSU

Jan 10, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BATON ROUGE, La.- No. 13 Texas A&M rallied from a 10-point second quarter deficit to beat LSU 53-35 in a women's basketball game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

With LSU (7-9, 1-2 SEC) leading 19-9 in the second quarter, the Aggies (12-4, 2-1 SEC) went on a 19-1 run that spanned into the third quarter, taking a 28-20 lead in the process. A&M outscored LSU 23-7 in the third quarter to take a 38-26 lead entering the last frame.

Courtney Walker led the Aggies with her third straight 20+ point game. Walker scored 21 points and added seven rebounds on Sunday. Jasmine Lumpkin joined her in double figures with a season-high 11 points.

Anriel Howard led the Aggies with a career-high 14 rebounds, her first double-digit rebound game at Texas A&M.

This was the Aggies' fourth comeback of nine or more points to win of the season, and third in their previous six games. The Aggies are 5-1 in that six-game stretch.

The Aggies return to action on Thursday, January 14 to host Ole Miss at 7 p.m. on SEC Network Plus inside Reed Arena.

QUICKIE NOTES

A&M used a 19-1 run to erase a 10-point deficit that started down 19-9 with 2:37 left in the second quarter and ended with the Aggies up 28-20 with 4:22 left in the third quarter
This is Texas A&M's fourth comeback of nine points or more to win a game, and the third such comeback in A&M's last six games. A&M is 5-1 in those six games.
The 35 points allowed by Texas A&M are the fewest in an SEC game since Jan. 19, 2014, when the Aggies beat Mississippi State 73-35
Courtney Walker scored 20+ points for the third consecutive game, seventh time this season, and 26^th time in her career.
- She scored in double figures for the eighth straight game, 15^th time this season, and 88^th time in her career
- She is averaging 21.0 points over her last five games, and entered the day as the SEC's leading scorer in conference play
Anriel Howard had a career-high 14 rebounds.
- Her 14 rebounds are the most for a Texas A&M player this season
- It is her first 10+ rebound game as a collegian
Jasmine Lumpkin scored in double figures for the first time in her A&M career, with a season-high 11. She had two double figure scoring games at Michigan State in 2014-15.
Rachel Mitchell broke a tie with Adaora Elonu (2008-12, 88 blocks) for sole possession of ninth on A&M's career blocks list. Mitchell has 89 career blocks.
This is the first time in 106 games that only one of Jordan Jones, Courtney Walker and Courtney Walker has started a game. At least two of the three seniors have started every game since Dec. 28, 2012, which includes every SEC regular season and SEC Tournament game in school history.
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 707-286 in his career and 299-123 in 13 seasons at Texas A&M. He moves into a tie with former FIU coach Cindy Russo for 14^th all-time among Division I coaches, and is eighth among active coaches in career wins.
The Aggies return to action on Thursday, January 14 to host Ole Miss at 7 p.m. on SEC Network Plus inside Reed Arena.

Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair

On today's win against LSU…
"I thought they were going to give a prize out to which team could score first. That was some bad basketball. That's the only way to put it. Both teams were trying as hard as they could. We had some good shots and they did too. They just weren't meant to be. I told the commentator we set the game of basketball back 20 years by how both teams played in the first half. Being down only 19-15 and shooting how we did, it just wasn't pretty. How would you like at the end of the game to realize (Chelsea) Jennings had two points, and has been lighting it up. Courtney Williams was on the bench the whole ball game. Both of my two five players had zero points. Jordan Jones, who didn't start, came in and had four points. Somehow we still win the game. Sometimes that's what depth is all about."

On LSU's defensive effort today against Texas A&M…
"Give LSU credit. They just won a ball game (vs Ole Miss). Their hustle was good. They were beating us to loose balls. Like Nikki (Fargas) said in the paper, that's what they had to do to make up for them not having many offensive threats. A lot of their offensive threats were sitting on the bench and former players sitting in the stands."

Texas A&M Guard Courtney Walker
On Coach Blair's halftime message to the team…
"The main two points were we had 13 turnovers. LSU wasn't necessarily turning them into fast break points, but they were getting more possessions than we were. Our focus was not to turn the ball over and take care of the ball. It didn't matter what we were running. The other thing was bringing our energy up. We weren't really playing with a lot of energy. Partially that had to do with us not making shots. To get our momentum going, we came out in our press. I think that really helped us a lot with our turnovers and pushing on the break."

Texas A&M Forward Anriel Howard
On Texas A&M's slow start in the first half against LSU…
"We weren't focusing as a team or making our shots (in the first half). We started out very slowly, but in the second half we came back and started making more shots."

LSU Head Coach Nikki Fargas

Opening Statement…
"Texas A&M did a great job of making some adjustments in the second half. I thought in the first half we really did a nice job of disrupting their offensive sets. We were able to hold a very good basketball team to only 15 points in a half. This is a 40-minute basketball game. The aggressive play of us in the first it seemed that they won that battle. We've been talking to our kids about playing for 40 minutes. We are capable. We have to make that a mindset and a commitment for the entire game."

On the offensive struggles…
"We've had glimpses of where we've gone on droughts and we've had wide open looks and we missed them. You have to be able to score the basketball. When you do get those open looks, they don't come often; you have to knock down the open looks. We failed in that area, only making 13 field goals and shooting over 50 times. The play action to get people looks was there but you just have to knock down the shots."

On Texas A&M's Courtney Walker…
"She scored the basketball. We held her to six points in the first half. We knew she was going to come back. We really challenge our back line defense to really limit her touches. She is a very good one-on-one basketball player. She has the ability to rise and shoot a true jump shot. It was only a matter of time. We missed some of our ability to make her catch farther out. Our help line defense didn't look as strong as it could have against her. She scored 13 points in the third quarter. That adjustment that we were trying to make didn't happen. When a player like that gets the hot hand then you have to know to deny that area. We missed that coverage too many times."

On not getting points off of turnovers…
"I think the game could have been won in the first half. I thought about how many opportunities we had to really stretch that lead and we didn't capitalize on the turnovers so it becomes an empty possession. When you hold a team to four points in the first quarter then your defense is doing what it needed to do. We didn't shoot a good percentage either. Only having a five-point lead going into the half, if we would have been more productive offensively, we should have had a 15-point lead. If we would have made five more shots, it would have been a different ballgame. You hope to withstand that and make a run yourself even if they do make a run in the third quarter. It's still a big deficit to come back from."

On the disheartening loss after the win…
"I think we have to go back to really stressing that we have to play consistent basketball. We also have to consistently practice at a level of intensity that where you get into the game it is going to be easier. We have to be a team that can string along back-to-back wins. We can't just settle into the fact that we beat Ole Miss. Texas A&M is right around the corner in 72 hours. It's the SEC and everybody is trying to get that win to move themselves up in the SEC standings so that at the end of the season you can be in the top four. I feel as though we came back ready to only play for 20 minutes. We have to figure out how to get the team intensity at a level it needs to be for 40 minutes."

LSU Forward Alexis Hyder

On what changed in the second half…
"We have to be able to put two halves together. We came out in the third and we did not even look aggressive. We had a lead going into the second half and we didn't capitalize on it. Once they started playing aggressive, we did not string together enough stops to keep us in the game."

On what went well with her inside defense…
"It was a team effort. I knew if I fronted, I would have help on the lob. It was really an all-together thing. I wouldn't say it was all me personally; especially the bench getting on me if I wasn't in position at the right time. It's important that we all take account for all that."

LSU Guard Rina Hill

On what changed in the second half…
"In the locker room at halftime, we talked about how we could maintain and push ahead in the third quarter. We said it but we could not perform, which is why I think they came out really strong in the second half. We were never able to punch back."

On what Texas A&M Guard Courtney Walker did different in the second half…
"She really just stayed aggressive the whole game. In the first half we were playing better defense. We were contesting her shots, and staying with her on dribble-drives. In the second half, her transition and half-court offense…she got whatever she wanted.