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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Danielle Ballard scored 22 points and fourth-seeded LSU beat fifth-seeded and No. 18-ranked Texas A&M 71-65 on Friday to advance in the SEC tournament.

LSU (17-12) will face top-seeded and No. 3-ranked South Carolina (28-2) in the semifinals on Saturday.

Ballard was 8 of 16 from the floor with 10 rebounds. Raigyne Moncrief had 14 points and DaShawn Harden added 10.

Texas A&M (23-9) was led by Courtney Williams with 19 points and Curtyce Knox had 12.

LSU scored the first 13 points of the game, holding Texas A&M scoreless almost five minutes in as the Aggies missed their first eight shots. Texas A&M finally got going, but trailed by that same 13 points, 44-31, at the break.

The Aggies chipped away in the second half and got it to three on Williams' jumper with 1:35 to go, but LSU made 9 of 10 from the line down the stretch to hold on.