A&M women hold off Missouri

Staff & Wire Reports

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Takia Starks scored 21 points, and 16th-ranked Texas A&M weathered a late Missouri rally to preserve a 69-63 victory over the Tigers on Wednesday night.

The victory was another in a series of breakthroughs for A&M this season.

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Buy this photo AP Photo Missouri's Tiffany Brooks loses the ball with A&M's Damitria Buchanan (left), Danielle Gant (55) and A'Quonesia Franklin surrounding her Wednesday.

It was A&M's first victory at Missouri in six tries.

The win also was A&M's fifth straight, marking the Aggies' longest winning streak in Big 12 play. And the win moved the Aggies (18-4, 8-2 Big 12) into a tie for first place in the Big 12 with 12th-ranked Oklahoma and 21st-ranked Nebraska.

A&M hosts Oklahoma at Reed Arena at 1 p.m. Saturday in a nationally televised game.

Starks scored 16 points in the first half to help the Aggies build a 21-point halftime lead. A&M reserve Danielle Gant added 18 points and A'Quonesia Franklin had 16.

Tiffany Brooks led Missouri (14-9, 2-8) with 22 points. Leading scorer EeTisha Riddle (16.4 points per game) shot just 1 for 4 in the first half, but went 5 for 7 in the second half to finish with 16 points. Alyssa Hollins added 11 points.

The Aggies led 42-21 at halftime, but Missouri scored the first eight points of the second half. After an 8-2 Aggie run pushed the lead back to 19, Missouri responded with a 25-4 run to get back in the game. Brooks' layup with just over 6 minutes left gave Missouri a 56-54 lead, its first since early in the first half.

Brooks started the Missouri rally when she scored seven straight points in just over a minute. She scored 13 points in the second half.