Carter helps No. 16 Texas A&M beat No. 25 Lady Vols 73-71

Chennedy Carter scored a season-high 37 points in her first start since returning from an ankle injury as No. 16 Texas A&M edged slumping No. 25 Tennessee 73-71 on Sunday. Carter, the Southeastern Conference’s preseason player of the year, had missed seven games after hurting her left ankle, with the Aggies going 4-3 in that span. The 5-foot-7 junior returned to action Thursday and scored 18 points in 22 minutes off the bench in a 74-53 victory over Vanderbilt.

Shambria Washington scored 10 points and N’dea Jones had eight points and 16 rebounds for Texas A&M (20-5, 8-4 SEC). Rae Burrell scored 19 and Rennia Davis had 18 for Tennessee (17-8, 7-5), which lost its fourth straight.

Texas A&M took the lead for good in the second quarter and stayed in front as its superiority at the foul line made the difference. The Aggies went 28 of 33 and Tennessee was just 6 of 16 on free-throw attempts.

Tennessee’s Jordan Horston sank a 3-pointer to cut Texas A&M’s lead to 70-67 with 32.2 seconds left, but Carter made two free throws with 9.3 seconds remaining. After Jazmine Massengill’s basket cut it to 72-69 with less than four seconds left, Texas A&M’s Ciera Johnson made 1 of 2 free throws to clinch the victory.

(Picture Credit: @vincefleming/Unsplash)