By james art 
Despite an encouraging early showing, Texas A&M’s efforts were hampered by injury in the second quarter of Aicha Coulibaly as the Aggies fell to No. 5 LSU on Sunday, 64-51.
With only nine players available at the start of the contest, the Aggies looked to star guard Koulibaly to provide their customary but necessary scoring. Aggressive from the rebound, Koulibaly was rewarded with five trips to the free throw line, with seven of her 12 points coming from the charity stripe.
Playing back-to-back against one of the top offenses in the nation, A&M’s primary scoring threat fueled the initial onslaught as the Aggies led most of the first quarter. After allowing the Tigers to come back with a 15-2 run in the second quarter, another injury proved costly.
Will Huffman, TexAgs
Sahara Jones played the full 40 minutes for the first time in her career.
With 1:51 left in the half, Coulibaly landed awkwardly on her right knee, unable to put any pressure on it as she was helped to the locker room. She didn’t come back.
It was a crushing blow to the Aggies, but they kept fighting.
In the second half, freshman Talia Parker stepped up to provide much-needed offense with 10 points in the final frames. Sahara Jones and Solè Williams hit 3-pointers to cut into the deficit as LSU’s talented tandem of Flau’jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow heated up.
Johnson scored 22 points and Morrow had 19.
A&M’s veteran duo of Coulibaly and Lauren Ware totaled eight minutes in the second half as foul trouble sidelined Ware. That forced Jones to play a full 40 minutes for the first time in his career.
Down to just seven available players after Ware fouled out, A&M lacked the bodies to keep pace with the Tigers.
With a whopping 30 offensive rebounds, LSU capitalized on its misses to take 72 total shots, 21 more than the Aggies. Additionally, a costly 21 turnovers doomed A&M’s encouraging first 18 minutes.
Less than 48 hours from their heavyweight fight against No. 2 South Carolina, LSU entered the contest on short rest. The defensive style of play worked in the Aggies’ favor, but a lack of depth hindered the execution.
Despite the loss, Texas A&M made strides Sunday night. In their last three games, the Maroon & White have continued to find ways to fight back when shots are thrown. Now they may have to figure out how to do it without Koulibaly.
The Aggies will then continue their stretch on the road, traveling to Arkansas on Thursday for a tip-off at 6:30 pm CT.