GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Sydney Bowles made six 3-pointers for the second straight day in scoring 19 points to lead 13th-seeded Texas A&M to a 79-72 win over fifth-seeded Mississippi State on Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Bowles followed up her six 3s against Vanderbilt by going 6 of 8 from the arc. Aaliyah Patty added 15 points and Jada Malone added 12 for the Aggies (9-19), who lost to the Bulldogs (20-10) by 16 and 18 points in two regular-season meetings.
The Aggies, the first 13th seed to reach the SEC quarterfinals, will take on fourth-seeded Mississippi on Friday.
Jessika Carter scored 18 points and Jerkaila Jordan and Debreasha Powe 12 each for the Bulldogs.
Bowels’ final 3-pointer put the Aggies up 73-64 with three minutes to go. The Bulldogs got within three but Kay Kay Green hit a second-chance 3-pointer after Malone grabbed the offensive rebound for a six-point edge with 1:17 left. After two Bulldogs free throws, Bowles added a free throw and Malone added a final bucket after the Aggies snagged an errant inbounds pass.
Tineya Hylton scored twice in the final 13 seconds of the third quarter and the Aggies, who got three Bowles 3s in the period, led 62-53 heading into the fourth quarter.
Mississippi State led 25-19 after the first quarter behind 10 points from Carter but in the second quarter they went 1 of 11 and the Aggies scored the first 16 points and led 37-30 at halftime.
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