November 07, 2005
Morenike Atunrase scored a career-best 21 points for Texas A&M, but a second half surge lifted Everyone?â„¢s Internet to a 75-73 victory Monday at Reed Arena in exhibition play in front of 1,524.
Atunrase, last season?â„¢s Big 12 Freshman of the Year, tallied 17 first half points to go with five rebounds and five steals. She drained 3-of-4 shots from three-point range which is more makes and attempts from long range for her than in any game last season.
Atunrase was limited to four points in the second half. She finished with seven rebounds, seven assists, and seven steals.
A&M led 34-30 at the break as it shot 50 percent from the field in the first half.
The second half featured large scoring runs by both teams.
EV1.net outscored the Aggies 23-9 over the final seven minutes. It was paced by Cynthia Jordan?â„¢s 25 points and six assists.
?I told my team this is the type of game we?â„¢ve been losing the last two years,? A&M coach Gary Blair said. ?I don?â„¢t care if it?â„¢s an exhibition game or we?â„¢re playing Southwest Missouri in the WNIT, I?â„¢m tired of losing games that we?â„¢ve had control of in the end. We?â„¢ve got to become a smarter team and I?â„¢ve got to become a better coach.
?It was a good learning experience for some of the older ones seeing those freshmen who are going to walk in and take a lot of those minutes.?
With EV1.net holding a 75-73 lead with eight seconds to play, A&M freshman Danielle Gant stole the ball and got it in the hands of Atunrase for a final shot to tie or win the game.
Atunrase took a three point attempt, but said following the game she thought the Aggies were trailing by three points and she was trying to tie the game.
?I honestly forgot it was a two-point game and I was trying to shoot the three,? Atunrase said. ?I was not trying to go for the win and I trying to tie it up. It was just a dumb mistake by me.?
The Aggies started the second half with a 14-5 run to take a 48-35 lead with 12:34 remaining. Six different Aggies scored points during the run.
EV1.net answered with a 12-4 run as Jordan scored seven points to pull within 52-47 with 9:50 to play.
A&M then put together a 10-3 run to extend its lead to 62-50 with 8:03 left.
But, EV1.net was not finished as it tallied a 15-3 run to pull within 67-66 with 3:25 remaining.
A three-point basket by Felicia Ragland gave EV1.net the lead 71-69 with 1:06 left.
Gant answered with a bucket for the Aggies and Jordan followed with a layup at the other end keeping EV1.net in the lead 73-71 with 33 seconds to play.
EV1.net?â„¢s defense forced an A&M turnover and a subsequent foul sent Jordan to the free throw line where she drained two attempts to extend the lead to 75-71 with 14 seconds to play.
Free throws played a role in the game as EV1.net was successful on 19-of-26 attempts while Aggies recorded a 10-of-14 effort.
?It?â„¢s not a very entertaining game to watch for the fans if both teams are at the free throw line that much,? Blair said.
A&M point guard A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin scored eight points and dished out seven assists to three turnovers. Gant finished with 11 points and seven rebounds as she was 3-of-3 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line over 20 minutes.
Four players for EV1.net managed double digits.
Former Vanderbilt standout Chantelle Anderson scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds for EV1.net before fouling out with six minutes to play. Keila Beachem added 15 points and nine rebounds while Felicia Ragland tallied 10 points.
The Aggies will host Athletes in Action on Sunday at 4:15 p.m. in its final exhibition game.