Fourth Quarter Proves Decisive in Aggies' Loss to LSU

No. 19 LSU outscores No. 23 Aggies by 12 points in fourth quarter to send Texas A&M to first SEC defeat of 2022

LSU’s strong fourth quarter proved fatal to Texas A&M, as the No. 23 Aggies fell to the No. 19 Tigers, 75-66, in the Aggies’ Southeastern Conference opener on Sunday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The Tigers (14-1, 2-0 in SEC) broke open a tight contest in the fourth quarter, keyed in part by an 8-0 run that ended with 3:30 left in the game and put LSU up by nine points. From there, the Tigers maintained that lead and ended up outscoring the Aggies (10-3, 0-1), 29-17, in the final 10 minutes.

The Aggies did what they could to extend the game, but they missed eight field goals in a row in the final few minutes and never got it back to a one-possession game.

The Aggies shot 32.9 percent for the game, with guard Destiny Pitts finishing with a double-double, scoring 18 points and 11 rebounds. Pitts also made four 3-pointers.

Guard Qadashah Hoppie scored 16 points, while guard Kayla Wells added 13 points.

LSU shot 42 percent from the floor and was led by guard Alexis Morris, who scored 30 points, making four 3-pointers and going 8-fo-12 from the free-throw line. Guard Khayla Pointer scored 17 points and added nine rebounds, while guard Jailin Cherry added 10 points. Forward Autumn Newby had 10 rebounds to go along with four points.

LSU outrebounded Texas A&M 49-39.

LSU led after the first quarter, 16-11, but Texas A&M roared back to take a 33-29 lead at the break. Texas A&M clung to a 49-46 lead after three quarters.

Sunday was the next-to-last regular-season meeting between Texas A&M coach Gary Blair, who is retiring at the end of this season, and LSU coach Kim Mulkey. The pair tangled annually when Texas A&M was in the Big 12 and Mulkey was the coach at Baylor. Mulkey left Baylor after last season to take over at LSU.

LSU and Texas A&M face each other in College Station on Feb. 13.

Blair and Mulkey go as far back as the early 1980s, when Blair was an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech and Mulkey was the team’s point guard. Blair is a nominee for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for the first time and hopes to join Mulkey there, who is already enshrined as a coach.

Texas A&M had not played since a 77-51 victory over UTSA on Dec. 20. The Aggies were supposed to host Vanderbilt to open SEC play on Dec. 30, but COVID-19 health and safety protocols in the Vanderbilt program prevented the Commodores from making the trip.

Texas A&M is at No. 7 Tennessee on Jan. 6 at 5:30 p.m.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.