COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Last season, Central Arkansas went into Reed Arena and suffered an embarrassing 84-27 loss to Texas A&M. On Wednesday the Sugar Bears got another shot at the Aggies, and acquitted themselves much more favorably – outscoring the 12th-ranked Aggies 16-8 in the 3rd quarter and playing A&M within four points over the final 20 minutes in a 76-46 loss.

"What a great opportunity for us today," said 8th-year Central Arkansas head coach Sandra Rushing. "I have a lot of respect for (Texas A&M) Coach (Gary) Blair. Having the opportunity to play a team of that caliber helps our program. I was very pleased with our effort today – they're big, they're athletic, and maybe a little intimidating at times. I saw some good things out of my team at times, and I don't think we gave up. We're going to take this experience, go home and learn from it. It's a much better performance than what we had last year. That was a very embarrassing game for me last year. I have a very young team – I can live with the mistakes right now as long as we're giving the effort and buying it. I think this was one you can't judge by the score. We want to build on this."

The Sugar Bears (2-5) fell behind by as many as 29 in the first half before a long 3-pointer at the buzzer from Taylor Sells made it 47-21 in favor of A&M at the break. The Sugar Bears, who came into the game having been outscored 97-79 in 3rd quarters this season, made up ground on the Aggies (6-1) by outscoring A&M 16-8 in the period – their second-lowest point total in a quarter this season after getting just 6 in the 4th quarter of their loss at Florida State on Sunday.

"In the huddle at the media timeout, I told them that we've won the first five minutes, now let's go win the next five minutes," Rushing said of the third quarter. "I think it's important for them to see that small success. The small things are going to turn into big things – and that's the thing they have to understand. I was excited about the third quarter. That's what we're going to talk about when we get back home."

In the third, the Sugar Bears shot 53.8 percent (7 of 13) from the field while holding the Aggies to just 18.8 percent (3 of 16), and were even with A&M both on the glass with 10 rebounds each and in turnovers with 3 apiece.

"We really wanted to fight, and play for the Central Arkansas on our chest," sophomore guard Romola Dominguez said. "We started getting a little run, playing together, and that's our keys – play smart, play hard, play together. The third quarter really showed us the team we can be - especially playing against this caliber of team. In our conference, that type of quarter will win us championships. We're trying to get to the point where we're playing at a championship level all the time, and that third quarter gives us a little hint about who we can be. We've got to keep building off that. We haven't been good coming out of breaks – that third quarter showed us we need to be a 40-minute team and can be."

For all the success of the third quarter, the rest of the day would go the Aggies' way, as they finished 29 of 70 (41.4 percent) from the field to the Sugar Bears' 33.3 (20 of 60); made six 3-pointers to the Sugar Bears' four; went 12 of 17 from the free throw line to the Sugar Bears' 2-for-4; won the rebounding battle 47-34; and committed just 7 turnovers while forcing 13.

"We want to build on this, but I'd much rather build on something and correct things when you win rather than when you lose this bad – but we're playing such a high caliber team," Rushing said. "They're going to be in the Final Four. Don't listen to Coach Blair if he says otherwise. They've got all the tools. We wanted to control offensive rebounding, but they're so much bigger and taller - we didn't reach our goal on the offensive boards we wanted to, but we'll take the little successes."

Savanna Walker had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Sugar Bears, recording her first double-double at Central Arkansas and logging the team's first of the season. She also added a pair of blocks and assists.

Senior guard Taylor Sells added 10 points and 8 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. Ayanna Trigg had 8 points and 4 rebounds in 23 minutes, and Briana Trigg led the team with 4 assists before fouling out in 29 minutes.

The Aggies got 19 points from Kayla Wells to lead four players in double figures, with Ciera Johnson adding 15, Aaliyah Wilson 13 and All-American Chennedy Carter with 12 to go along with 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and a block in 25 minutes. Cheah Rael-Whitsitt led the Aggies on the boards with a game-high 14 rebounds.

It was the 4th win this season by 20 or more points for the Aggies, who came in with a 43-point win over Little Rock, a 21-point win over Duke, and a 42-point win over Prairie View A&M to their credit.

The Sugar Bears, who were playing without their second-leading scorer in freshman forward Terri Crawford, now turn their attention to the final two non-conference games in the Farris Center against Crowley's Ridge on Saturday and Central Baptist on Sunday the 15th before opening Southland Conference play on the road at Incarnate Word on Dec. 18.