COLLEGE STATION, Texas— Kaitlyn Duhon scored a career-high 23 points, but a hot-shooting Texas A&M team was too much as the Aggies won 81-63 Sunday afternoon at Reed Arena.
“We did a good job coming out in the first half, hitting some shots,” Auburn head coach Larry Vickers said. “But after that, we kind of went cold. Teams are going to make us beat them from the 3-point line, and we’re just going to have to get back in the gym and make some shots.”
Duhon’s 23 points led four Tigers in double figures. She also had six rebounds and four steals to lead Auburn in all three categories. She moved into second place in Auburn history in single-season steals in today’s game; she now has 83 on the season as she passed Katie Frerking and Hasina Muhammad for second place.
Ja’Mia Harris scored 11 points, and Khady Leye and A’riel Jackson added 10 each for the Tigers.
Texas A&M shot a season-high 57 percent (29-51) and hit their SEC-best scoring mark, scoring nearly 20 points above their season average. The Aggies also hit 9-of-18 3-pointers and were perfect at the free throw line, hitting 14-of-14 attempts.
Auburn shot 33.3 percent from the field and was hot from 3-point range early, but did not make one in the second half. The Tigers were 17-of-21 at the free-throw line, 12-of-12 in the fourth quarter.
Auburn scored 22 points off 18 Aggie turnovers and had 15 second-chance points on 14 offensive rebounds.
The Tigers were hot from deep early, knocking down five 3-pointers in the first quarter to lead 22-19 after one period, tying their highest-scoring quarter in SEC play. Jackson had two of the Tigers’ treys in the opening period. Free throws, however, kept the Aggies close as they went 6-for-6 at the line.
But the Aggies took over the hot shooting in the second period, using a 9-0 run and a 10-0 run to move ahead to a 40-31 lead at the break. Texas A&M was 8-for-12 from the field in the second period while Auburn was 4-of-14 and missed its only two free throw attempts.
Texas A&M kept up their hot shooting in the third quarter, extending the lead to double-digits and ending the period on an 8-0 run to lead 64-43 after three. Auburn outscored the Aggies in the fourth, 20-17.
Fatmata Janneh led four Aggies in double figures with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Auburn is back on the road Thursday, Feb. 19, when they travel to Columbia, Mo., to take on Missouri. Game time is 6:30 p.m. at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers’ next home game is Monday, Feb. 23, against Georgia. Game time is 6:30 p.m. CT.