EAGLE STAFF REPORT
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Turnovers raised their ugly head for the Texas A&M basketball team in the third quarter as Mississippi State scored 12 points off seven Aggie mistakes in breaking open a close game.
Mississippi State's junior guard Debreasha Powe scored 11 of her game-high 19 points in the third quarter, hitting 3 of 4 three-pointers. With the 6-foot-1 Powe leading the way, the Bulldogs hit 11 of 20 field goals in the quarter, including 4 of 7 from long range. Mississippi State outscored A&M 27-11 in the third quarter to take a commanding 63-39 lead en route to an 81-55 victory in Southeastern Conference play.
Mississippi State (19-9, 6-8) celebrated Senior Day by solidifying its NCAA tournament resume and bouncing back from a 69-66 loss at Florida last Sunday when Florida closed with a 9-1 run. A&M (10-16, 3-11), lost its eighth straight. A&M ended with 18 turnovers that converted into 18 Mississippi State points.
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"We turned it over way too many times," A&M coach Joni Taylor said on the radio postgame show.
The Bulldogs also had a 42-26 edge in point points. Mississippi State had 17 offensive rebounds it converted into an 18-9 edge in second-chance points.
"Granted, they've got great size," Taylor said. "That was one of our concerns coming into [the game]. But when you're trying to get stops and then you give people second-chance opportunities, it's tough. And when you're trying to offensively go on a run and you turn the ball over, it's also tough."
A&M senior forward Lauren Ware scored a season-high 19 points, hitting 7 of 9 field goals. Graduate guard Sahara Jones added 10 points. Both had six rebounds.
Taylor was pleased Ware took the ball right at Mississippi State's inside players.
"We thought this was a game our forwards and [centers] could do something," Taylor said. "We talked a lot about trying to post them up."
Taylor thought graduate forward Amirah Abdur-Rahim and junior forward Jada Malone both played well. Abdur-Rahim had two points, three assists and four rebounds, while Malone had eight points, four rebounds and three assists.
A&M junior guard Kyndall Hunter hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter as A&M trailed 19-18 because MSU junior center Madina Okot hit a second-chance bucket with one second left.
The Aggies after having only two turnovers in the first quarter had seven in the second quarter. Ware kept A&M close by scoring seven of the team's 10 points in the period as the Aggies trailed 36-28 at halftime.
"I thought we did some good things," Taylor said. "I thought in the first and second quarters, we played hard. We took them completely out of their dribble-drive offense and forced them to run some sets."
MSU ended hitting 8 of 21 on 3-pointers with Powe hitting 5 of 9.
"We can't let her shoot threes, that's what she does," Taylor said. "That's all she does, and we lost her way too much today."
Okot had 14 points, hitting 7 of 14 field goals along with 12 rebounds as MSU had a 38-32 edge. Graduate guards Eniya Russell and Jerkail Jordan each added 13 points.
A&M, which is 0-8 on the road this season, will be at Vanderbilt (19-9, 6-8) on Thursday before ending the regular season Sunday at home against Arkansas (9-20, 2-12).
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