Texas A&M
1-0
Saint Peter's
0-1
Aggies Block Saint Peter's in Season Opener
Nov 21, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Morenike Atunrase scored 12 points and blocked five shots for Texas A&M in a 77-36 win over Saint Peter?™s in the season opener for A&M Monday at Reed Arena in front of an opening day record 2,386.
A&M shattered the school record for blocks in a game with 18 surpassing the previous mark of 13 set in 1995. It marked the second most in NCAA history and broke the Big 12 record.
?It?™s mind boggling,? A&M coach Gary Blair said of the blocks. ?We put a huge emphasis on contesting shots. We were up in the air. I was really pleased with (La Toya) Micheaux tonight. I thought she gave me the best 20 minutes she?™s given me so far.?
Freshman La Toya Micheaux grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots for the Aggies.
The Aggies started the game on a 13-2 run before extending it to 21-4 at the 11:26 mark. Atunrase tallied seven points during the run.
?I liked how we came out ready to play,? Blair said. ?I just liked the intensity. We were ready to play. We were the last Big 12 team to start and we?™ve been ready to play for a long time.?
Katy Pounds drained a long range three pointer from the left side to give the Aggies a 27-9 advantage with 6:57 to play in the half.
A&M found success in transition in the first half. The Aggies converted 15 turnovers by the Peahens into 18 points and 12 fast break points. A&M tallied 7 steals and 9 blocks in the frame.
A&M led 46-16 at halftime and managed to send 11 players into the game.
The Aggies continued in the second half what they started in the first half by jumping out to a 18-2 run over the first eight minutes to extend the lead to 64-18. Franklin scored six of the 13 points for A&M during the run.
?We won the first half in transition basketball,? Blair said. ?We did a good job converting our break opportunities.?
A&M did not score any field goals the final seven minutes.
?Are we ready right now? No,? Blair said. ?We didn?™t run our offense very well at all tonight. And that is an understatement.?
Blair was not pleased with the second half scoring as the Aggies connected on just 25 percent of their shots, but Blair pointed to mass substitution as part of the issue.
?The second half, put that on me,? Blair said. ?The continuity through substitution was not good tonight, but those players all deserved playing time.?
Aggies?™ sophomore point guard A?™Quonesia Franklin scored 10 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out a game-high five assists, and recorded a block and a steal. She committed no turnovers.
?Aqua (Franklin) just took care of the ball,? Blair said. ?She makes good decisions and I?™m proud of her. She barely walked through practice yesterday with her knee.?
Senior Tamea Scales added eight points, seven rebounds, blocked two shots, made two steals and recorded two assists.
Saint Peter?™s struggled shooting the ball as they totaled 18 percent from the field for the game on 11-of-62 attempts.
The Peahens were led by Tiffany Jones 10 points and six rebounds and by Lauma Reke?™s eight points and 10 rebounds.
The Aggies will play its next three games on the road as part of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic beginning Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. A&M will face Cal State-Northridge in the first round at 5:20 p.m. (central)
NOTES--- Tamea Scales was named the State Farm Player of the Game. Atunrase blocked five shots giving her 62 for her career which ranks sixth all-time at A&M. A&M's 18 blocked shots is the second most in NCAA history. The record is 19 held by New Orleans vs. Western Kentucky on Feb. 13, 1999. Four other teams have tallied 18 blocks in a game in NCAA history:
Alabama vs. LSU on Jan. 22, 1983
Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee State on Dec. 10, 1991
Rutgers vs. Oklahoma State on Dec. 28, 1991
Loyola Marymount vs. Western Illinois on Dec. 20, 1992
The blocks total is a new Big 12 record. The previous best was 16 set by Colorado against Sam Houston on Dec.14, 2000.
