February 15, 2006
Morenike Atunrase scored 17 points for No. 21 Texas A&M, but Sophia Young scored 16 to lead No. 12 Baylor to a 84-59 win in Big 12 Conference play Wednesday at Reed Arena in front of a school record 11,088.
Baylor improved to 18-5 overall and to 8-4 in the league, while A&M fell to 19-6 overall and into a tie for second place with the Lady Bears at 8-4.
The attendance eclipsed the previous record of 5,565 set earlier in the season against Oklahoma.
A 25-8 run by Baylor lifted it to a 32-14 advantage with 4:26 to go in the half. Abiola Wabara scored seven straight points during the run. She finished with 11 points. A&M could never take a lead.
"We got beat by a better basketball team tonight and got beat by a better-coached basketball team tonight," A&M coach Gary Blair said. "And a team that executed their half-court offense a whole lot better than we did."
The Aggies struggled from the field during part of the stretch missing seven straight shots over six minutes.
Baylor took advantage of the Aggies' 11 turnovers by converting them into 14 points in the first half. Baylor ultimately scored 23 points off of 19 A&M miscues for the game.
"I don't know what happened," Blair said of the loss. "A lot of it was Baylor, give them credit. I've said all along, Baylor is a team that is just about as good as they were last year. I just like their basketball team. Kim's preparing them a lot better than I'm preparing mine right now. This won't be our last loss. But at the same time, we're pretty realistic about who we are and what we need do to get better."
In the second half, Baylor started with a 7-2 run to increase its lead to 49-25 with 16:55 to play.
A three pointer by Chameka Scott lifted the Lady Bears to a 57-31 lead with 14:06 remaining. She finished with 14 points with four three pointers.
A&M answered with a 17-7 run to make the score 64-48 as A'Quonesia Franklin scored seven points midway through the frame. Franklin totaled 15 points with eight assists.
"We haven't been behind like this all year," Blair said. "This was a first. We hadn't been behind like that. We didn't respond very well. I didn't like the looks in the eyes of my kids. We'll grow from that."
Then at the 8:57 mark Blair was issued back-to-back technical fouls following a basket by Takia Starks and an apparent block-charge by the Lady Bears. Blair was ejected.
"I deserved the first T, but didn't deserve the second T," Blair said. "But it was a well-officiated game. We've got the best officials in the country."
Starks finished with 13 points.
Baylor closed the game outscoring the Aggies 19-11 the rest of the way.
"We're going to guard you," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson said. "That's a trademark of our team and a trademark of A&M's team. I thought A&M was team that had been playing very good basketball. What we didn't want them to do is turn the corner. They are as good as we have in the Big 12 as far as coming off screens and creating shots."
Baylor shot 55 percent from the field and drained 7-of-11 three pointers. A&M managed a 40 percent effort from the field.
The Aggies will face No. 9 Oklahoma (22-4, 12-0) on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla.
NOTES-Atunrase was selected as the State Farm Player of the Game.
Postgame Quotes
BAYLOR COACH KIM MULKEY-ROBERTSON: "Well when you're hitting from three, you win a lot of games, especially when Sophia (Young) and Abiola (Wabara) are getting so much attention inside. In the games we've won on the road our perimeter game has been existent. Everybody did something to contribute to the win tonight."
"We're going to guard you. That's a trademark of our team and a trademark of A&M's team. I thought A&M was team that had been playing very good basketball. What we didn't want them to do is turn the corner. They are as good as we have in the Big 12 as far as coming off screens and creating shots."
"I thought we set the tone early and said, 'Hey, if you're going to beat us, you're going to have to bring your A game, because we're coming to play.' "
"What Gary's done...our only problem is those cheap Baptists wont let us sell dollar hot dogs. They make us charge full price. You knew when Gary was hired here he'd work his rear end off and build a program A&M can be proud of, and he's done that."
"Sure, it was a good all-around game. But I want to reiterate that we've lost four that went down to the absolute last play of the game. I thought in all four this team played great basketball. This team is taking everybody's best shot. We don't like losing. With exception of LSU we've had the opportunity of winning every game this year. How can you be disappointed in a team that plays like that? They are going to win their share of last-second shots. Certainly we'd love to be winning the league, but we've never, ever stopped doing what we do and that's competing."STATEMENT FROM REFEREE CLARKE STEVENS: (regarding double technical issued to Texas A&M coach Gary Blair, in accordance with Big 12 Conference Pool Reporter Policy 4.1)
"Well first of all, he (Coach Gary Blair) got the first technical foul for coming out on the floor and arguing a call. So that technical foul took care of itself. Then, according to bench decorum rules and guidelines that we abide by, the coach cannot be out of the coaching box for any further reasons. And Coach Blair came walking out further on the court after receiving the first technical foul, which automatically warrants a second technical foul, coming further onto the court rather than getting back."
A&M POINT GUARD AQUA FRANKLIN: "Baylor is a great ball club. They came out with a lot of energy. They should have had to match our intensity, but we had to match their intensity. They came out pretty tough. They did a great job getting the ball inside. Our ball press was not as good as it usually is. The first half we didn't have as much intensity as we needed, and Sophia (Young) got off to a good start."
A&M COACH GARY BLAIR: "We got beat by a better basketball team tonight and got beat by a better-coached basketball team tonight, and a team that executed their half-court offense a whole lot better than we did."
"I'd like to say some of it was our defense but some of it was Baylor is a very balanced team. They've got balance between inside and outside. I had two points out of my four and five (position players) tonight. You just can't keep scoring two points against whatever their trio was scoring there. That's not the same defense that was played against Texas Tech, Texas and Nebraska. I don't know if we were waiting in the hot dog line outside or what before we started playing. I don't know what happened. A lot of it was Baylor, give them credit. I've said all along, Baylor is a team that is just about as good as they were last year. I just like their basketball team. Kim's preparing them a lot better than I'm preparing mine right now. This won't be our last loss. But at the same time, we're pretty realistic about who we are and what we need do to get better."
"We haven't been behind like this all year. This was a first. We hadn't been behind like that. We didn't respond very well. I didn't like the looks in the eyes of my kids. We'll grow from that."
(on whether the team was maybe too amped up for the game) "Not a bit. I'm not justifying anything. Baylor just flat outplayed us. Every aspect of the game. It's just a butt kicking. That's all it is. And I can take it. And we'll be better because of it. We've got to go back to the drawing board and let's get better. We've got a huge game coming up Saturday."
"It was a motion play. Y'all saw the play on the baseline. I thought it was a charge. The referee thought it was a block. How many times am I going to win that? I deserved the first T, but didn't deserve the second T. But it was a well-officiated game. We've got the best officials in the country."
"This was not a circus act and an event. This was College Station/Bryan becoming hopefully a basketball town on the women's side. We had probably 5,000 people there that had not seen us before. I'm very, very appreciative of our marketing department. Our A.D.s were out there cooking and wrapping hotdogs tonight. This just didn't happen. It took a lot of people working together. I hope people don't cheapen the dollar night. That's where we are in the growth of women's basketball in this area. We worked very hard and the marketing people worked very hard. Sometimes that's what you've got to do to build your product. I was proud of our crowd. I'm just sorry we were not as good as our crowd. Hopefully they'll be back."