Lady Tigers Can’t Hold On Against Aggies, Lose 13th in a Row
Posted on 14. Feb, 2012 by Mark Johnson in Sports, Sports Articles
Tuesday, Feb. 14 -
The Missouri women’s basketball team blew a five-point lead with under four minutes to play and denied themselves their first win in Big 12 play Tuesday as they fell to Texas A&M 56-52 in Columbia.
The Tigers led 50-45 after Morgan Eye drained a three pointer before the media timeout, but defending national champion A&M rallied back, going on a 12-2 run to close out the back-and-forth contest.
It was the 13th consecutive loss for Missouri. The Tigers haven’t won since Dec. 30 against Sam Houston State.
Down 50-47, Texas A&M’s Alexia Standish hit a three-ball to tie the game with under two minutes to go. With 51 seconds remaining, Tyra White drove from the high post and hit a tough layup in traffic to put the Aggies ahead for good.
Kelsey Bone paced A&M with 14 points and the freshman Standish finished with 11.
Christina Flores led Missouri with 20 points and 10 rebounds – her eighth career double-double – and Eye hit five three-pointers on her way to a career-high 19 points.
The two teams traded baskets for much of the first half, a period that saw five lead changes and no advantage for either side of more than five points. Down by three in the first half’s final minute, Flores hit a triple to tie the score at 29 going into halftime.
The second half saw much of the same. Flores opened the scoring with a layup to give Mizzou a 31-29 lead, and the Aggies tied it a minute later. Missouri went up by five with a three from Kyley Simmons followed by a jumper from Eye, a lead they wouldn’t give up until three straight Aggie free throws tied the score at 43 at the 6:33 mark. The Tigers jumped ahead by as many as five once more before Texas A&M took the lead for good with 51 ticks remaining.
The win was Texas A&M’s ninth straight vs. Missouri.
The Tigers are now 10-14 overall and 0-13 in conference play.
- Joe Trezza
23 Sports
Staff Writer