STARKVILLE — Mississippi State held on well enough for nearly 20 minutes after going a player down. Another untimely foul turned out to be the Bulldogs’ undoing.

In the 64th minute of Thursday night’s contest against Texas A&M, MSU forward Alexis Gutierrez was given a red card for bringing down the Aggies’ Maile Hayes and denying her a scoring opportunity. Bulldogs goalkeeper Maddy Anderson saved the ensuing free kick, but when Hayes drew a yellow card from MSU midfielder Macey Hodge in the penalty box in the 83rd minute, Sammy Smith left no doubt from the spot, sending the Bulldogs to a 1-0 defeat.

“It’s obviously really hard against such a quality opponent to play a (player) down,” MSU head coach James Armstrong said. “This team’s got fight, this team’s got character, they’ve got grit. The crowd got behind them. That was a lot of effort that 10 players had to put in. Proud of the team; I just wish we’d capitalized on some of the chances we had.”

The Bulldogs (6-2-2, 1-1-0 Southeastern Conference) did have plenty of chances. They held a 13-7 advantage in shots, putting five of them on target to just two for Texas A&M (5-3-2, 1-0-1), but Aggies goalkeeper Grace McClellan, making just her third start of the season, kept everything out of the net. MSU also had a 6-2 edge in corner kicks.

Each side seemed to be feeling the other out early — neither team got off a shot until the 12th minute, and neither put the ball on frame until past the half-hour mark. The Bulldogs had a flurry of opportunities late in the first half, with midfielder Ilana Izquierdo getting off the first shot on goal. Two minutes later, midfielder Haley McWhirter’s cross into the box was broken up, and MSU had three corner kicks in the last six minutes of the half.

“We’ll look at it and want to do a little bit better with some of those chances,” Armstrong said. “We had a few too many shots from distance when we could have gotten closer to the goal.”

McWhirter and midfielder Hannah Johnson each tested McClellan in the second half, but once the Bulldogs lost Gutierrez, Texas A&M became the aggressors. Two minutes after the red card, Rylie Combs nearly deflected a cross into her own net. In the 75th minute, Aggies leading scorer Jazmine Wilkinson broke free with only Anderson to beat but fired her shot wide right.

After falling behind, MSU could not exert much pressure until a corner kick in the final minute, but McClellan easily picked off forward Maggie Wadsworth’s shot.

The Bulldogs will hit the road for the first time in SEC play Sunday to take on LSU, and they will be without Gutierrez as the red card also results in a one-match suspension. Armstrong said Sainya Johnson, Megan Day and Sutton Webb could all help fill that spot.

“Obviously the turning point in the game was the red card,” Armstrong said. “I was really proud of how hard the girls worked after that. Just one little slip-up at the end there, and they got the penalty. We did everything tonight except get the three points.”