Texas A&M started off hot jumping out to an 11-2 lead before the first time out was called. The Aggies continued to maintain that through the first quarter, but as the game went on, Mississippi State clawed their way back in to gain momentum. A&M suffered from so many unforced errors and had a staggering 22 turnovers combined with 21 fouls.
The disparity between the two teams at the foul line was a very telling story. The Aggies only attempted nine free throws while the Bulldogs made 22-29 on the night, leading to their eventual 74-63 win over A&M. Even though they made more shots and out-rebounded Mississippi State, the fouls were just too much to overcome.
“When you’re playing a team that’s that good, you can’t give them the basketball, and I just think because of our turnovers in that stretch where we needed to be settled, and we needed to be in time and score, it never felt that way, and so we’ve got to take better care of the basketball now some of the fouls obviously were us at the end fouling but we sent them to the line way too many times.”
In the end, there were too many self-inflicted wounds and Coach Joni Taylor will need to find a way to get her team to be more consistent if they want to hit their goals at the end of the season.