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Texas A&M Women’s Basketball Stuns Penn with Largest Comeback in NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament History

By Matthew Bartlett

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The Texas A&M Women’s Basketball team was not to be denied on Saturday night, rallying back from a 25 point deficit to stun Penn in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.

After the men had a record-setting comeback of their own last year, the women found their way into the record books on Saturday. Texas A&M trailed by 17 points going into the fourth quarter and things were looking grim for the maroon and white. With 8:59 to go Sydney Stipanovich hit a jumper to put Penn ahead by 24 points, 58-37.

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The Aggies would follow that basket with a 13-0 run to bring the difference back within single digits. A Michelle Nwokedi free throw with 2:08 remaining pushed the score to 59-50.

Just when you thought the comeback might run out of steam the Aggies added just picked up the pace. The ladies would score 12 straight points, finally taking the lead (60-59) on a Khaalia Hillsman layup with 21 seconds remaining.

In the fourth quarter alone Penn missed 10 shots, turned the ball over seven times, and committed nine fouls. Not only did everything fall apart for the Ivy League squad down the stretch, Texas A&M took advantage of every mistake and made them pay.

Hillsman was hands down the most important piece in the come from behind victory. Texas A&M’s center scored 27 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and was 9-for-11 at the foul line. Her and forward Anriel Howard combined for 25 of the Aggies 45 rebounds. Howard added a block of her own.

Next: The Greatest NCAA Tournament Comeback Ever

Texas A&M would make three of their final four free throws to ice the game and cement a miraculous fourth quarter comeback. They’ll take on UCLA in the Round of 32 on Monday. The full women’s bracket is available here. A blow by blow account of the comeback is available via the Texas A&M Women’s Basketball Twitter feed.

***Stats from ESPN***