Arkansas drops SEC opener to No. 11 Texas A&M

Arkansas forward Kiara Williams (10) and Texas A&M center Ciera Johnson (40) dive for a loose ball during a game Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020, in Fayetteville.

— Chennedy Carter scored 28 points, N'dea Jones and Ciera Johnson each had a double-double, and No. 11 Texas A&M beat 20th-ranked Arkansas 84-77 in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams on Thursday night.

Jones finished with a career-high 22 points and 14 rebounds and Johnson had 11 points and 10 boards. Kayla Wells added 15 points for Texas A&M.

Jones hit a 3-pointer 53 seconds into the game to make it 3-2 and the Aggies (13-1) never again trailed. Carter hit back-to-back 3-pointers and then made a layup to spark a 17-5 run that gave Texas A&M a 12-point lead late in the first quarter and the Razorbacks trailed 44-32 at halftime.

Texas A&M has won eight in a row.

Chelsea Dungee led Arkansas (12-2) with 20 points — including 12 in the fourth quarter- and Alexis Tolefree scored 18, hitting 6 of 8 from 3-point range. It was Tolefree's second consecutive game, and third in the last five, with six 3s.

Makayla Daniels made a layup to make it 61-all — the first tie since 5-5 — with 6:24 left in the game but Carter answered with a layup to give the Aggies the lead for good. Texas A&M made 15 of 20 from the free-throw line in the final six minutes. Arkansas attempted just 13 total foul shots, making nine.

Arkansas had its seven-game win streak snapped.

The Razorbacks, who went into the game averaging 9.8 made 3-pointers per game (No. 6 nationally) on 37.6% shooting (No. 20), made 12 of 27 (44.4%) from behind the arc.