Texas A&M
(2-0)
Cal State Northridge
(0-3)
Aggies Open in Hawaii with Win over Northridge
Nov 25, 2005 | Women's Basketball
November 25, 2005
A?™Quonesia Franklin and Danielle Gant each scored 14 points for Texas A&M in a 76-52 win over Cal State-Northridge in the opening round of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic Friday here at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Aggies used another solid defensive effort as they tallied their second win in as many games. A&M improved to 2-0 while CSN fell to 0-3.
Franklin, the Aggies?™ sophomore point guard, put on another assist-to-turnover statistical show as she dished out five assists to one turnover in 33 minutes while accounting for five steals.
?Aqua (Franklin) did a good job in the ball game,? A&M coach Gary Blair said. ?She would have had about 12 assists if we could make a shot.?
With the Aggies leading 21-17 with 7:38 to play in the opening half, A&M put together an impressive 20-6 scoring run to close the half.
?We had every shot we wanted in the first half,? Blair said. ?We just did not shoot particularly well from the outside in the first half. We did a great job crashing the offensive boards, but we were shooting in a hurry. Give credit to the effort, we?™ll get better.?
A&M led 41-23 at halftime after shooting 17-of-44 from the field enroute to 34-of-83 for the game.
In the second half, the Aggies built a 72-39 lead with 6:01 to play. It was their largest lead.
A&M sophomore Morenike Atunrase added 13 points and three steals while senior Tamea Scales tallied her sixth career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
?I thought Scales was very active today with a double-double,? Blair said. ?It?™s just hard to put a body on her. They were doing a decent job blocking out our five players. But she is like a pogo stick just bouncing around in there. It?™s hard to find her. She is flying in the air.?
Gant, a freshman, connected on 7-of-13 from the field and blocked four shots.
?(Gant) never takes a bad shot,? Blair said. ?Between her, Scales and Aqua (Franklin), they were the best three players on the court for us. Whether she is at the three or the four (Gant) does a super job. She?™s not selfish.?
Freshman La Toya Micheaux recorded eight points, nine rebounds, and blocked four shots. She now has seven blocks in two games.
?Just a couple of big-time blocks,? Blair said. ?It?™s really the first time I?™ve seen her get up. She made a couple of mistakes, but she is just getting better and better.?
A&M blocked 12 shots which marked the second straight game for the Aggies to record double digit blocks. It is the first time in more than five seasons that A&M had consecutive games with double-digit blocks. It is the just the second time since the 1999-2000 season that A&M has recorded two or more games with double-digit blocks. The Aggies blocked a Big 12 Conference record 18 shots against Saint Peter?™s on Monday, the second most blocks in NCAA history.
The Aggies recorded 20 steals as CSN committed 33 turnovers.
?We won the game in transition forcing turnovers in the first half and getting the offensive boards,? Blair said.
CSN was led by Jamie McCaa?™s 10 points.
The Aggies will face the winner of No. 17-ranked DePaul and Eastern Michigan on Saturday at 6:50 p.m. central time in the semifinals.
?We are over here to play the best,? Blair said. ?To get noticed anywhere you need to play a top 25 team on a neutral floor. DePaul is a very good, very veteran, and very smart basketball team. They will run every bit as much as we will. I guarantee you this will be a high scoring ball game.?
NOTES?-Franklin was named the State Farm Player of the Game after scoring 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from long range. She tallied five assists and five steals with just one turnover in 33 minutes.
