Women’s Basketball Nearly Topples No. 3 LSU, 72-66

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M women’s basketball team took No. 3 LSU to the brink in Sunday’s 72-66 loss to the Tigers.

After trailing by as many as 17 points in the first half, Texas A&M (6-15, 1-10 SEC) cut LSU’s (23-0, 11-0 SEC) lead to four points on three occasions in the fourth quarter in front of a season-best crowd of 6,482 at Reed Arena.

Sahara Jones led the Aggies with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from the foul line. Tineya Hylton scored a career-high 12 points. Janiah Barker chipped in with nine points, six rebounds and three steals.

On Senior Day, Aaliyah Patty logged nine points and six rebounds and McKinzie Green notched seven points, two rebounds and two steals.

LSU scored the first nine points of the game and built an 18-8 lead at the first break.

Barker and Hylton registered seven points apiece in the second quarter to keep the Aggies in striking distance. The Tigers led by 17 points at the 2:02 mark, but Texas A&M outscored LSU down the stretch, 6-2, to cut the deficit to 39-26 at the intermission.

The Aggies opened the third quarter on an 8-1 run, shaving the Tigers’ margin to 40-34 with McKinzie Green’s layup at the 6:32 mark. LSU stretched the lead back out to 10 points, but the Maroon & White clawed back with baskets by Barker, Jones and Patty to draw within four, 44-40, at the 1:54 mark. The Tigers closed out the period scoring five of the last seven points to take a 49-42 cushion into the final break.

After Hylton hit a trifecta early in the fourth quarter to cut the lead back down to four, the whistles went against A&M, allowing LSU to extend its advantage 66-55 at the 3:04 mark with the help of 7-of-7 shooting from the charity stripe.

The Maroon & White once again battled back. This time the Aggies mounted a 7-0 run with all their points coming from the foul line, trimming LSU’s edge to 66-62 with 1:45 remaining in the game. The Maroon & White were unable to cut the deficit below four down the stretch as the Tigers hit 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the final :82 seconds.

Up Next

Texas A&M returns heads to Starkville, Mississippi, for Sunday’s 2 p.m. game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

POSTGAME NOTES

RECORDS & SERIES NOTES

Texas A&M moves to 6-15 in the 2022-23 regular season, including 1-10 in the SEC.
The Aggies’ overall record against the LSU Tigers moves to 16-20, including 10-5 while inside Reed Arena.
Joni Taylor’s career record advances to 146-90 all-time and to 6-15 in her first season with the Aggies.

TEAM NOTES

The Aggie defense held LSU 15.4 points under their season scoring average, marking the 18th time this season the Maroon & White have held their opponent below their average scoring output.
In the previous meeting between the Aggies and Tigers on Jan. 5, 2023, Texas A&M suffered a 40-point margin loss. Today they came up only six points short.
The Maroon & White had a 38-7 advantage over LSU in points off the bench, the A&M second unit is averaging 34.5 points in its last four games.
Texas A&M utilized a starting lineup of McKinzie Green, Kay Kay Green, Sydney Bowles, Jada Malone and Aaliyah Patty for the first time this season (0-1).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Sahara Jones

Led the team in points for the fourth time this season, registering 14.
The seventh time this season she has scored in double digits.

Tineya Hilton

Put up a career-high 12 points off the bench, the fifth time this season she has scored in double digits.
Drained two 3-pointers, her fourth-consecutive and seventh time this season making one-or-more from deep.
Brought down two rebounds, notched one assist and grabbed two steals.

Janiah Barker

Led the Aggies in rebounds for the fifth time this season, grabbing six.
Logged nine points and equaled a career-best three blocks.
Recorded multiple blocks for the fifth time this season.

Aaliyah Patty

Scored nine points, needing just two more to hit 1,000 points in her career.
Hauled in six boards to lead the Aggies for the 13th time this season.
Hit a 3-pointer, marking the 11th game this season she has made one-or-more shots from deep.

Kay Kay Green

Grabbed a career-high six rebounds.
Contributed eight points, four assists and two steals.
Led the Aggies in assists for the 11th time this season.

Jada Malone

Matched a career-high four steals, recorded first against LSU on Jan. 5.
Added two points and two rebounds.

McKinzie Green

Contributed seven points, two rebounds and two steals.

POSTGAME QUOTES

Head coach Joni Taylor

On what was different this meeting…

“We are a different team than when we played them at the beginning of January. I’m really proud of our fight. We got down 17 at one point and that’s what the growth of this team is and the one thing I am so proud of is how we continue to fight. I can’t say enough of how proud I am. Everybody that played, at some point, made a play that kept us going.”

On the team’s fight…

I have said it and I’ll continue to say it. When we had seven, we fought. We have 10 now and we continue to fight. I’m so proud of how they fight, how they lock in and how they show up for each other.”

Junior Forward Sahara Jones

On forcing turnovers…

“McKinzie (Green), Tineya (Hylton) and Kay Kay (Green) were on the ball. Their defense was very intense. They knew where not to let them go, so their intensity on the ball is always a plus.”

On making LSU work hard for their points…

“Angel (Reese) is going to get her points and rebounds, but we were fighting hard. It didn’t come our way tonight, but you can tell we fought hard and executed our game plan.”

Graduate Guard McKinzie Green

On the Reed Arena crowd…

“It helped a lot. If every game looked like that, that would be tremendous. The crowd gave us energy. When we were down 17 and we didn’t give up, the crowd had a lot to do with that.”

On laying the foundation of the program…

“It shows that the best is yet to come. Being able to trust the process and know that everything is going to work out in the end. It shows that we could have crowds like this every home game and be one of those top tier teams.”

Follow the Aggies

Visit for more information on Texas A&M women’s basketball. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M women’s basketball team on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter by following @AggieWBB.

Copyright 2023 KBTX. All rights reserved.