Texas A&M quiets Tigers' roar in OT

College Station, TX -- In a battle of ranked SEC opponents on Thursday night, the #13 Texas A&M Aggies and the #23 Missouri Tigers fought as if their lives depended on it for all 40 minutes of regulation, with the Aggies pulling out the eventual 81-77 victory in extra minutes.

"You're in the SEC. Night in and night out it's going to be a tough ball game," Missouri head coach Robin Pingeton.

The Aggies, who have won six of their last eight and experienced last-second heartbreak in their last contest — falling 59-58 at No. 2 South Carolina — set the record straight against a Missouri team that beat A&M 70-69 last season on a 3-pointer by Maddie Stock with 0.1 remaining.

A&M was led by standout performances from senior guards Chelsea Jennings, Jordan Jones and Courtney Walker, who scored 22, 20 and 20 points respectively.

With 10 of 16 scoring in tonight's overtime and 5 of 9 in the overtime vs. Duke, Courtney Walker has attributed to more than 50% of scoring for the Aggies in overtime.

"She didn't score much in regulation, but she took over in overtime, and that's what big players do," said Jennings of her teammate.

After an early 1st quarter deficit where the Aggies led by as many as 9 for 9:29 out of the 10 minutes, the Tigers clawed their way back to tie the game 13-13 headed into the second.

The Tigers started off strong in the 2nd quarter with help from junior forward Jordan Frericks, who led the team with 23 points. She tied former Mizzou player Jessra Johnson for career rebounds with 689.

The score at the half was 25-23 in favor of Texas A&M.

The Aggies extended their lead in the 3rd quarter with the largest lead of 15 coming with just 1:18 left in the quarter. The score at the end of the 3rd was 51-40.

That wasn't the end for the Tigers. The battle continued with Missouri climbing their way out of the hole and sending the game into overtime with an end of regulation score of 65-65.

The scoring continued, with the final moments of the game coming down to fouls and free throw. The Aggies ultimately handed the Tigers a heartbreaker instead of taking their second straight.

Missouri started the season by winning all 13 of their non-conference games, and despite their win against No. 6 Mississippi State on Jan. 14, have now gone 2-4 in SEC play.

A&M now leads the all-time series between the two teams 16-8, and is 9-2 when playing at home in College Station.

This was the second women's ranked matchup in Reed Arena this season. However, the Aggies have knocked off three ranked teams away-from-home.

The Aggies next game is January 28th at Alabama at 7 p.m. The Tigers travel home to play Florida on January 24th at 1 p.m.