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Recap: No. 19 Texas A&M wins on the road against No. 11 Kentucky

The Aggies, led by Chennedy Carter’s 24 points, powered the win over a loaded Wildcats team.

NCAA Womens Basketball: NCAA Tournament-Spokane Regional
Carter drops 24 points to lead the Aggies to a 62-55 win on the road against Kentucky.
James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

Last night, the No. 19 Texas A&M Aggies defeated the No. 11 Kentucky Wildcats, 62-55, on the road.

Texas A&M entered last night’s game on a two-game winning streak, and Thursday’s matchup marked the second win for the Aggies against the Wildcats this season, for the 2-0 sweep. In the first matchup, at home, the Aggies defeated Kentucky 73-71 behind impressive play from Kayla Wells, Chennedy Carter and Ciera Johnson.

In last night’s victory, the Aggies jumped out to a 9-2 lead within the first few minutes of the game. Ultimately, Texas would dominate the first quarter, which ended with the Wildcats trailing 7-19.

Kentucky closed the gap in the second quarter due to turnovers, poor shooting and lack of boxing out by the Aggies. In the third quarter, both teams fought for dominance, with each imposing its will on both sides of the ball. But Kentucky snatched a 51-44 lead over the Aggies by the end of the third quarter.

But an offensive letdown and turnovers by Kentucky allowed Texas A&M to claw back into the game. Not to mention, the Aggies also grabbed some key rebounds that contributed to their 62-55 win over the Wildcats.

Chennedy Carter (24 points), Ciera Johnson (16 points) and Kayla Wells (14 points) all finished the game with double-digit scoring, helping their team win a crucial conference game on the road. Despite minimal contributions from the bench, the Aggies pulled off the impressive road win against the Wildcats courtesy of strong performances from their starters.

Neither team shot relatively well from the three-point line, however, with the Wildcats shooting 22.7 percent and the Aggies shooting 27.3 percent. But Texas A&M did a solid job of running Kentucky off the line and forcing them to take tough shots.

Maci Morris (11 points) and Tatyana Wyatt (10 points) finished the night with double-digit scoring, but struggled to find a rhythm. Morris shot 37.5 percent from the floor off 3-of-8 shooting and Wyatt finished the night on more of a positive note — shooting 55 percent from the floor of 5-of-9 shooting.

Eight-time Freshman of the Week Rhyne Howard was limited to 7 points on 3-of-11 shooting in the Wildcats’ loss.

After last night’s win, Texas A&M (22-6, 11-4) will move to third place in the SEC behind South Carolina and, probably, further up in the AP 25 Poll. Although the Wildcats lost this game they are still in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament berth at (23-6, 10-5).