Carter scores 30 to lead A&M over Marquette 78-76
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Chennedy Carter scored 30 points, Shambria Washington hit the go-ahead 3-pointer late and No. 4 Texas A&M got a 78-76 win over fifth-seed Marquette in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
Texas A&M (26-7) moves on to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year where it will meet the winner of Monday night’s game between Michigan State-Notre Dame in Chicago on March 30.
A jump shot by Allazia Blockton tied it with a minute left and Amani Wilborn made 1 of 2 free throws with 36 seconds remaining, but a lane violation by A&M gave her one more shot and she made it to put Marquette up 76-74.
Carter found Washington on A&M’s next possession and she made the 3-pointer to put the Aggies up 77-76 with 23 seconds left.
Carter stole an inbounds pass from Danielle King after a timeout with five seconds left and she was fouled by King. The Golden Eagles had to foul two more times to get in the bonus, leaving just 0.9 seconds left when Carter made 1 of 2 free throws to secure the win.
Natisha Hiedeman had 18 points to lead Marquette (27-8), which was looking for its first trip to the Sweet 16.
Carter, who added nine rebounds and five assists, has scored at least 26 points in each of her five career NCAA Tournament games and has scored at least 20 points in her last seven games overall.
The game was tied midway through the fourth after a basket by Carter when Hiedeman made a 3 for Marquette and Washington hit one for A&M on the next possession to make it 70-70.
Marquette made two free throws after that before Carter gave the Aggies their first lead of the second half with a 3 that made it 73-72 with 3 1/2 to go.
Both teams missed several shots after that until N’dea Jones made one of two free throws with just more than a minute left to extend the lead to 2.
A 3-pointer by Blockton put Marquette up 5 early in the fourth, before the Aggies got consecutive layups by Jones to start a 6-1 run that tied it at 63-63 with about 6 1/2 minutes left.
BIG PICTURE
Marquette: Will have to have some young players step up next season if the Golden Eagles hope to continue their success with their five top scorers finishing their college careers on Sunday.
Texas A&M: The Aggies got a scare on Sunday, but know that with Carter they can be a dangerous team moving forward in the tournament.
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