Feb. 7, 2007
Tiffany Brooks led all scorers with 22 points and spearheaded a Tiger attack that saw Missouri erase a 24-point deficit and lead by two with 6:07 to play, but No. 16/19 Texas A&M finished on a 15-7 run to escape with a 69-63 win at Mizzou Arena on Wednesday.
Missouri (14-9, 2-8 Big 12) trailed by 24 late in the first half and actually regained the lead with 6:00 left but Texas A&M outscored the home team by eight down the stretch.
In the second half alone, Brooks made all five field goal attempts and netted 13 points, while leading scorer EeTisha Riddle had 12 of her 16 points. Mizzou shot 59 percent in the second half after a 36 percent showing in the first frame.
Texas A&M (18-4, 8-2) got 21 from Takia Starks and 16 from A'Quonesia Franklin. The duo made all five of the Aggies 3-pointers in the game. Danielle Gant had 18 and five rebounds off the bench.
With Missouri leading 7-6, Patrice Reado completed a 6-0 run with a steal and fastbreak layup to force a Tiger time out at 13:54 with A&M ahead 13-8.
The teams traded jumpers in the paint before A&M used its biggest run of the game to take a 31-12 lead with 8:30 left in the half. The Aggies outscored the Tigers 16-0 and held Mizzou scoreless for just under seven minutes.
A Riddle layup halted the run but the Aggies scored seven unanswered to extend the margin to 24 points, at 38-14 with 2:04 in the half. A&M led 42-21 at the break.
Mizzou shot just 36 percent in the half and was out-rebounded by four, 16-12. The Aggies shot a blistering 62 percent and made four 3-pointers.
For the Aggies, Starks had 16 with Franklin scoring 10. MU was led by Brooks' nine in the half.
MU opened the second half on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 42-29 before a Franklin 18-footer briefly halted the run. Following a driving layup by Blair Hardiek, A&M regained the momentum with a 6-2 run to push the lead back to 50-31 with 15:26 left.
Brooks then took things into her own hands as she scored the next seven points in the game, including a steal and fast-break three-point play that cut the Aggie lead to 12 with 13:40 left.
A Riddle fade away in the lane made it a 10-point game with 12:09 on the clock. Following a lob and layin from Toy Richbow to Riddle, an Alyssa Hollins three from the top of the key off a double screen made it a 5-point game with 8:52.
After a Hollins jumper in the lane with 8:23 made the score 54-51 in favor of the Aggies. MU tied it on a three by Carlynn Savant and took the lead for the first time since it was 8-7 on a Brooks layup with six minutes left. That completed a stretch where Mizzou outscored A&M 42-16 over a 16 minute span.
But the Aggies got a 3-pointer from Starks and an old-fashioned three-point play from Danielle Gant that put them back in front 63-56. The Tigers got the deficit down to four twice but Franklin made two free throws each time she was fouled as A&M escaped with its first-ever win in Columbia.
Missouri will return to action on Saturday at 6 p.m. when it plays host to Oklahoma State (16-7, 4-6) at Mizzou Arena. The game follows the MU-Kansas men's game at 2:30 p.m.