A&M suffers first home loss as unbeaten South Carolina rolls, 99-64

Texas A&M women's basketball fell to 2-3 in conference play as top-ranked South Carolina throttled the Aggies at Reed Arena on Sunday, 99-64.

The loss snapped what was an 11-game home winning streak at Reed Arena and kept the Gamecocks undefeated record intact.

"I thought we came out timid," A&M head coach Joni Taylor said. "I did not think we were aggressive on either side of the basketball. You have to be those things all the time but especially when you are playing a team as good as South Carolina."

With A&M's star forward Janiah Barker and bench contributor Maliyah Johnson out with concussions, A&M's post depth was thinned at a time when they needed it most.

"You are down two forwards, which makes your rotation really challenging when you are playing against a team with that type of size," Taylor said.

From the jump, South Carolina proved their No. 1 ranking. The Gamecocks held A&M scoreless for six minutes until Solè Williams knocked down a 3-pointer.

That bucket was all A&M would muster up until Aicha Coulibably was fouled and made two free throws. A&M did not make a field goal until 7:15 in the second quarter. The Gamecocks led 25-8 after the first frame.

"We got down by a lot," Endyia Rogers said. "We got off to a slow start. We weren't hitting the shots we normally make."

Because of South Carolina's size and dominance in the paint, A&M was ineffective down low. The visitors outscored A&M an astounding 56-20 under the basket. Additionally, the physical Gamecocks pulled in 42 rebounds compared to A&M's 29.

Also, A&M elected to shoot way more 3-pointers than usual, attempting 22 compared to their season average of 5.4 per game.

"I thought we settled. We are not a team that should be taking 22 3s. When we do that, it does not turn out well for us," Taylor said. "In my opinion, the 3 was the easy way out."

With South Carolina shooting a scorching 71.4 percent from the field at halftime, A&M lacked the physicality to slow down the Gamecocks, as they held a 31-point lead at the break.

Despite what may look like a discouraging showing from the Aggies, the second half exhibited some fight from the home squad.

Powered by Rogers' team-leading 21 points, A&M was able to make up some ground and held their own in the third frame, only being outscored by three. In the fourth, A&M held South Carolina to 20 points, their lowest quarter total of the day.

"Great job in the third and fourth quarter for coming out and fighting when they did not have to," Taylor said. "It's a growth opportunity. It's a chance for us to learn and get better."

Any loss is tough, but a loss to the No. 1 team in the country isn't backbreaking.

Sitting just under .500 in the SEC, A&M has multiple upcoming opportunities to take the lessons learned on Sunday and prevent similar instances in the future.

That next challenge will be at Missouri on Thursday at 8 p.m.