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The No.2 Texas A&M escaped again. The Aggies are in the Sweet 16 on an overtime drive beating the buzzer by Jordan Nixon to defeat No.7 Iowa State, 84-82. Nixon also did the tough practice to tie at the end of regulation and scored seven of the Aggies’ nine overtime points.
Overtime was the Aggies’ first time leading the entire contest and they called up to 12 points. This is the second time the SEC regular season champions have found themselves in a deep hole. They were almost the first No.2 seed to be knocked down by a No.15 seed on a tight first-round call against Troy.
Nixon wins in OT
Nixon came out and drilled a 3-point overtime to push the Aggies forward. The next few minutes were a frantic back and forth to Nixon’s last buckets.
She equalized at 82 with 1:38 remaining and Texas A&M had a chance to take an easy lead, but missed the opportunity for a transition basket pulling up to 3. The defense stood up. and held on two saves, the last one with five seconds left as Nixon took him court length.
She went straight into the painting and hit it on the buzzer.
Nixon scored 35 points, a game-high, which also tied Caitlin Clark of Iowa for a 2021 tournament high. Nixon was 16-for-28 off the floor with seven assists, two rebounds, one steal and one block. Her post-game interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe was perfect for March Madness.
Nixon has done this before. She had a running shot with less than a minute to go earlier this season to elevate Texas A&M to a ranked Arkansas team.
Ciera Johnson scored 19 points for Texas A&M on an 8 for 12 shot and Aaliyah Wilson added 11. N’dea Jones approached a double-double with 14 rebounds, nine points and four blocks. The bench added just three points and two rebounds, all from junior Alex Morris.
Texas A&M forces overtime
The Aggies never took the lead in the fourth quarter, but came within one on a layup by Ciera Johnson with 1:02 to go. Ashley Joens, the Iowa State machine, responded by working for a tough basket on the inside and winning the and-1 to push a one-point lead into four with 39 seconds left. After an Aggies layup by N’dea Jones, Joens hit two more free throws to keep the pressure on.
Nixon hit a deep jumper to bring Texas A&M back to two again with 14 seconds left on the clock and made a tough practice for another with five seconds to go.
The Aggies defense held on for three incoming games to close the game and force extra time. Texas A&M will face No.3 seed Arizona, who themselves battled No.11 BYU, in the Sweet 16.
Contest controlled by the State of Iowa
The Cyclones controlled the game from the tip and appeared to be heading towards the Sweet 16 with a huge upheaval in the medium. The Aggies couldn’t contain Ashley Joens and fell 10 behind at the start. It was a margin the Cyclones held until the end of the fourth quarter.
Joens finished with 32 points, 18 rebounds and three assists. She became the fourth Big 12 player with 30 points and 15 rebounds in a tournament game since 2000. Joens joins Courtney Paris, who has done it twice for Oklahoma, and former Baylor stars Brittney Griner and Lauren Cox.
Iowa State built its first lead with six 3-pointers on seven attempts in the first quarter. They were 16 of 30 (53.3%) by the end of games, topping the team’s 35.8% over the year. The Cyclones controlled the boards, 50-38, but struggled with 24 turnovers. These can come into play late in the tight competition and have included a few shot and steal timer violations when they could have pushed a lead.
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