January 04, 2006
Patrice Reado recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and a career high 11 rebounds to lead Texas A&M over Oklahoma State, 74-52, in the Big 12 Conference opener Wednesday at Reed Arena.
It marked the Aggies?â„¢ 10th straight win as they improve to 12-2 overall and to 1-0 in the league. OSU falls to 6-6 overall and to 0-1 in the Big 12. The win was A&M?â„¢s 11th straight win at Reed Arena dating to last season.
Reado, who came off the bench, surpassed her previous rebounding high of nine with her six offensive and five defensive boards.
?For Reado on her Mom?â„¢s birthday I thought it was a pretty good present to give to her mom,? A&M coach Gary Blair said. ?She?â„¢s been playing that well in practice. It wasn?â„¢t what (Tamea) Scales was not doing I just felt we could split one with Reado. Right now she is playing very well in practice and that?â„¢s carrying over to games.?
A&M freshman Takia Starks added 16 points and sophomore Morenike Atunrase tallied 15 points.
?I think we hit great shots all night,? Blair said. ?I think their zone wasn?â„¢t as effective as Kurt (Budke) would like it to be, but we shot them out of the box-and-one real quick in the second half and they had to go back to traditional zone.?
Budke, in his first season at OSU, also pointed to A&M?â„¢s shooting.
?Give A&M credit,? Budke said. ?They hit some good (outside) shots tonight. If they continue to hit perimeter shots I think they can have a lot of success this year. I?â„¢m the only one in the Big 12, I think, that picked them in top three or four and I still believe that.?
A&M jumped out to a 14-4 lead with solid shooting including three pointers by Atunrase and Starks.
OSU committed seven turnovers during its first 11 possessions as A&M scored 11 points directly from the miscues.
The Aggies extended its lead to 23-8 with 7:49 to play after Starks drained her seventh straight point. She tallied 12 points in the first half.
To wrap the first half, the Aggies outscored the Cowgirls 13-4 over the last five minutes.
OSU came out in the second half and scored its first 10 points on layups, but A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin helped the Aggies match the Cowgirls?â„¢ output by connecting on a pair of three pointers during the stretch. Franklin finished with eight points and five assists.
Reado recorded six points and six rebounds in the second half.
A&M posted its best free throw shooting game of the season with a 17-of-20 showing for 85 percent. The Aggies were impressive 12-of-14 in the second half.
The Aggies matched their largest rebounding margin of the season by grabbing 51 boards to OSU?â„¢s 24. The Cowgirls were limited to four offensive rebounds.
The win was the second largest win in Big 12 league play in terms of scoring margin. The best was 24 points against Missouri in February of 2002 at Reed.
The conference opening win was the first for Blair at A&M and just the third in the last 13 seasons for Blair including his 10 years at Arkansas.
?That hadn?â„¢t happened in lot of years in the SEC and in the Big 12,? Blair said. ?We were ready to play. We were very well prepared for this ballgame. When you prepare to win most of time it happens. It?â„¢s my first Big 12 opener and I?â„¢ve got lot of cactching up to do. I know what our conference record has been last few years. We?â„¢re going to have to work hard.?
The Aggies play their first Big 12 road game when they travel to Texas Tech for a 7 p.m. game on Saturday.
NOTES?-Reado was selected as the State Farm Player of the Game. It marks the third conference season opening win for A&M in the Big 12. The last Big 12 league opener the Aggies won was in 2002 at Kansas.