Associated Press
FORT WORTH -- Facing one of the country's top scoring teams, TCU got the defense it needed at just the right time.
The Lady Frogs used a 15-2 run over the game's final five minutes and got a critical call late to beat 10th-ranked Texas A&M 56-54 on Saturday night.
Helen Sverrisdottir scored 18 of her season-high 20 points in the second half of lead TCU's (7-3) 12th straight home win.
Tyra White scored 16 points for Texas A&M (7-1) and was the only player in double-figures for the Aggies, who were held 33 points under their season average and committed 23 turnovers that led to 24 TCU points.
"I thought we made a lot of plays down the stretch and that was huge for us," TCU coach Jeff Mittie said. "Our defense did a lot of really good things tonight."
Sverrisdottir scored nine of TCU's final 15 points, including a key 3-pointer from the top of the key that tied it with 1:29 remaining before T.K. LaFleur hit a pair of free throws on TCU's next trip to put the Lady Frogs in front, 56-54 with 38 seconds left. It was TCU's first lead since the 7:14 mark of the first half.
LaFleur scored 15 points and Emily Carter had 11 for TCU.
A&M lost the ball on the ensuing possession and was then whistled for a shot-clock violation with 8.5 seconds remaining that drew the ire of Aggies coach Gary Blair.
TCU's Emily Carter ended up on the floor with a loose ball as the officials blew the whistle. No jump ball was signaled and the Frogs were out of timeouts. After a discussion between the officials, it was ruled that the shot clock had run out and Carter had not signaled time out.
"TCU just won a ballgame over Kansas by Kansas calling a timeout [they didn't have]," Blair said. "Then they ended up doing the same thing and we ended up not getting the reward for it."
Sverrisdottir missed a pair of foul shots with 5.9 seconds remaining before Tanisha Smith's desperation 3-point attempt clanged off the side of the backboard at the buzzer.
"TCU's defense was outstanding and they hit just enough shots to get it done," Blair added.
A&M led by 14 points (45-31) with 11:45 remaining but made just four baskets the rest of the way. One of those was a 3-pointer from the right corner from Sydney Carter. The trey gave the Aggies a 52-41 lead with 5:18 to play and prompted TCU to switch from man-to-man to a zone defense.
A&M scored one field goal after that.
"Defense really fuels our team, and when we're not getting stops it hurts our offensive rhythm," said Sydney Carter.
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