January 02, 2006
A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin scored a career-high 21 points to lead Texas A&M past Rice, 65-64, Monday at Reed Arena.
Franklin scored 16 of her points in the second half after leaving the game in the first half following collision with teammate Erica Roy going for a loose ball. Roy did not return.
?Give Aqua (Franklin) a lot of credit for coming back after banging that head,? A&M coach Gary Blair said. ?The littlest kid on the court had to take over what the others didn?â„¢t want. That?â„¢s not her job. We had to have her. She?â„¢s just a gamer.?
Rice led by as many as seven points in the first half and by 35-34 at halftime.
The victory was A&M?â„¢s ninth straight, the second longest streak in school history, as it improved to 11-2 overall. A&M is matched with Kansas for the most wins this season among Big 12 Conference teams. Rice fell to 4-7.
It marked A&M?â„¢s 17th straight non-conference win at home.
?We found a way to win tonight,? Blair said. ?Give Rice a whole lot more credit that you give us. If we would have been on the road, we would have lost this game. But we were at home and I thank the crowd for being there.?
Rice was led by Lauren Neaves?â„¢ double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Krystal Frazier scored 15 points and Valeriya Berezhynska added 10 points.
A&M started the second half with a 15-7 run as it regained the lead 49-42. Franklin had nine of the points.
Later, Franklin drained a jumper to give the Aggies a 55-47 lead with 9:37 to play.
Then, Rice put together an 8-2 run to tighten the Aggies?â„¢ lead to 57-55 with 5:37 remaining.
Both teams suffered a stretch of more than six minutes late in the half without scoring a field goal.
Rice stopped its streak with 2:17 to play when Frazier drained a bucket to pull the Owls within 58-57.
Franklin then ended A&M?â„¢s drought with a jumper from the right side to make the score 60-57 at the 2:00 mark. A jumper by Starks on the next possession gave A&M a 62-57 advantage.
Following a pair of free throws by Kadie Raven, Starks lost the ball on the press break and Frazier drained a jumper from the left side to make A&M?â„¢s lead 62-61 at the 0:59 mark.
Franklin went to the line and drained two free throws with 25 seconds to play, 64-61.
Then, a three-point attempt by Frazier from the left wing was missed and rebounded A&M?â„¢s Patrice Reado.
Franklin went back to the free throw line with six seconds to play and hit the front end a one-and-one.
Rice took the rebound and Stovall hit a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Franklin finished with a stellar 6-of-10 field goal shooting and a 7-of-8 showing at the free throw line. She added four assists and two steals.
A&M was also paced by Danielle Gant?â„¢s 15 points and eight rebounds as she was 5-of-5 from the field and 5-of-5 at the free throw line.
A&M held an early 7-4 lead before Rice put together a 19-9 run to take a 23-16 advantage at the 10:29 mark. The Owls established an inside game with 12 of its points coming from the paint.
The Aggies answered with a 14-6 run to take the lead 30-29 with 3:40 to go in the half. Gant scored nine points during the run and finished with 11 in the frame.
Late in the run, a collision for a loose ball in the paint forced Roy and Franklin to leave the game after being injured at the 4:53 mark in the first half.
Rice grabbed the halftime lead in the final 30 seconds, 35-34, following a layup by Valeriya Berezhynska. She finished with 10 points.
The Owls managed 61 percent shooting in the first half to the Aggies?â„¢ 39 percent.
The Aggies begin Big 12 Conference play on Wednesday when they host Oklahoma State at 5:30 p.m. at Reed Arena.
NOTES?-Franklin was selected as the State Farm Player of the Game.