COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The No. 3 Mississippi State and No. 23 Texas A&M women’s basketball teams traded eight leads Sunday, leaving MSU coach Vic Schaefer worn but pleased with the end result.
“That was a heck of a ballgame, and you hate somebody had to come out on the short end,” Schaefer said. “There were a lot of runs in this game. We just happened to get the last one.”
Victoria Vivians scored 25 points to help MSU avoid an upset with a 72-67 victory at Reed Arena.
The victory combined with No. 6 South Carolina’s 62-60 loss at Missouri enabled MSU (27-1, 13-1 Southeastern Conference) to move into sole possession of first place in the league with two regular-season games remaining. The Bulldogs bettered that school record for conference wins in a season (13) and road wins in a season (12). The 27 wins is one shy of a school record.
The win helped MSU lock up at least a top-two seed for the SEC tournament on March 1-5 in Greenville, South Carolina. The Bulldogs had secured at least a top-four seed and a double by in the SEC tournament on Thursday with a victory against Georgia.
The Aggies (19-8, 9-5) led by seven points in the fourth quarter before the Bulldogs rallied thanks to Teaira McCowan’s two field goals in the paint in the last 1 minute, 17 seconds.
McCowan had 16 points. Her game-high 13 rebounds were nearly twice as many as anyone else on the court.
“We have kids who embrace wanting to be in the moment. Teaira was phenomenal. She has been on a tear here of late,” Schaefer said about McCowan, who grew up close to College Station in Brenham.
Texas A&M had a seven-point lead with seven minutes remaining, but Vivians scored 10 points the rest of the way to key the comeback.
“I took a couple of bad shots in the first half and wasn’t being aggressive like coach told us to be,” Vivians said. “In the second half I got back on the right track, and started being more aggressive.”
The Aggies lost despite making all seven of their 3-pointers, including 4-for-4 by Danni Williams and 3-for-3 by Taylor Cooper. Williams led the Aggies with 23 points.
Texas A&M held a 65-63 lead with 2:18 remaining when Ketara Chapel sank a 3-pointer from the left side of the key to give MSU a 66-65 lead. It was Chapel’s only field goal attempt.
“There was no bigger shot than what Ketara made in front of our bench,” Schaefer said.
MSU’s reserves outscored their Texas A&M counterparts 28-0. The Bulldogs also held a 34-22 advantage in the paint.
“I told my kids, the effort was great, (but) I’m not in this thing for moral victories,” Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said. “We were up seven points, and we’re supposed to win at home. That’s the bottom line: We’re supposed to win at home.”
Schaefer spent 15 years with Blair as an assistant, the first six at Arkansas and the last nine at A&M, prior to taking the MSU rebuilding job five years ago.
“They can do a lot of damage in the postseason,” Schaefer said about the Aggies. “I don’t want to play them again.”
The Bulldogs won for the first time in four tries in College Station, and swept the season series.
Texas A&M had eight turnovers compared to 11 for MSU, but half of the Aggies’ miscues occurred in the final 8:18 when the Bulldogs rallied.
“We had a seven-point lead, and they just had more poise than us,” Williams said. “It’s frustrating, to know we were that close, but didn’t close it out.”
MSU will take on Kentucky at 6 p.m. Thursday ESPN2 or ESPNU. The regular-season finale and Senior Day is set for 4 p.m. Sunday (ESPN2) when MSU plays host to Tennessee.
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