No. 3 LSU women's basketball edges Texas A&M; unbeaten clash at No. 1 South Carolina next

There was concern of looking ahead for No. 3 LSU women's basketball.

As a showdown at No. 1 South Carolina looms, the Tigers appeared to squash those worries Sunday afternoon at Texas A&M. LSU scored the first nine points of the game at Reed Arena but had to hold on for dear life to emerge with the 72-66 victory vs. the Aggies.

While LSU (23-0, 11-0 SEC) remains undefeated on the season, A&M (6-15, 1-10) closed within four points in the final 1:45 after trailing by 17 points in the first half. But the Aggies never made it a one-possession game as Kim Mulkey's bunch extended its program-record win streak to 23 games.

"I asked the team after the game why those thought teams have come out excited?" Mulkey said after the team's third straight tough game in less than a week. "It's because we're becoming relevant."

SCOUTING REPORTLSU women's basketball at Texas A&M: Score prediction, scouting report

DICK VITALEESPN's Dick Vitale calls LSU potentially adding Sue Gunter's name to Dale Brown Court 'absurd'

BAYOU BARBIELSU women's basketball star Angel Reese embraces 'Bayou Barbie' nickname. Merch may be next

Battle of SEC basketball unbeatens next weekend

All LSU and South Carolina needed to do was win Sunday to set the stage for a clash of titans in Columbia next weekend.

The Gamecocks started the morning with a nail-biting 81-77 win at No. 5 UConn, getting a big performance out of Aliyah Boston with 26 points and 11 rebounds.

LSU, with the easier task of the two teams, followed up with its win at Texas A&M to keep the allure of the showdown with top spot in the Southeastern Conference on the line. The eyes of the sport will be on LSU-South Carolina next Sunday with the first regular-season, top-3 meeting in the SEC since 1993.

Angel Reese dominates Texas A&M

There was still 3:44 remaining in the first half at A&M, and LSU's Angel Reese had captured her 10th point off a free throw for her 23rd consecutive double-double.

The Aggies could not stop Reese this season, who set the LSU program single-game rebound record in the first meeting. In two contests, the LSU star piled up 52 points and 50 rebounds.

"It's interesting because I thought they guarded her much better today then they did at our place," Mulkey said. "(Reese) is just a competitor."

Alexis Morris still scoring but must fix turnovers

Alexis Morris has averaged more than 20 points per game the last couple of weeks, including 22 on Sunday at A&M. And ahead of the clash at South Carolina, that's a huge positive for Mulkey.

What's not a positive is how careless Morris was with the ball in crunch time against A&M. The senior point guard turned the ball over twice in the fourth quarter that allowed the Aggies to cut down their deficit. Morris had nine turnovers for the game.

In big-time games, that number won't get it done for LSU. Morris will need to take better care of the ball.

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU women's basketball beats Texas A&M, South Carolina showdown is set