Nashville, TN -- If the Commodores had any hope of playing postseason basketball, Sunday's game against No. 12 Texas A&M was a must win. Vanderbilt started the game with a lot of fight, but the Aggies got the lead late in the fourth quarter, and the Commodores couldn't get back in it. This is the fifth consecutive win for the Aggies.
Vanderbilt Head Coach, Melanie Balcomb, wasn't very pleased with the officiating of the game.
"These are our jobs, our careers, and these games are decided by a few possessions every night, and a lot of that depends on them and their calls," said Balcomb.
The Commodores held the SEC leading scorer, Courtney Walker, to six points in the first half, but weren't able to keep it that way. Walker led the Aggies with 22 points and six rebounds.
Vanderbilt came out of the gates playing some of their best basketball of the season. The defense was forcing turnovers while the offense was capitalizing on ball possession. The Commodores held the lead for almost the entire first half and had an eight-point lead heading into halftime.
Morgan Batey exploded in the second half to try to keep the Commodores in the game. Batey led the Commodores with 15 points and five rebounds.
"We gave up some easy buckets to them to help them gain confidence and then we just looked up and saw the score," Batey said.
Christa Reed and Marqu'es Webb both added 13 points.
Despite being ahead for only three seconds in the first half, the Aggies started the third quarter with more fight. Texas A&M was able to get the lead late in the fourth quarter and run with it. The Commodores dug themselves into a 10-point deficit that they couldn't get out of.
The Aggies played an outstanding fourth quarter. The Aggies shot 75 percent from the field goal line in the fourth quarter to score 32 points.
Gary Blair, Texas A&M Head Coach, was very impressed by his team's second-half rally.
"I thought we dominated in the third quarter, shooting 60 percent and we were still down four, said Blair. They shot 75% in the fourth quarter; I bet no one else in the SEC has done that in the second half of the ballgame."
Courtney Walker along with Chelsea Jennings fueled the Aggies to the 75-63 win. Jennings had 20 points and rebounds. Courtney Williams added 10.
The Commodores will host Mississippi State on Thursday as they try to snap a seven-game losing streak. The Aggies will head to Auburn for their second to last game of the regular season.