February 22, 2006
Morenike Atunrase scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds as No. 25 Texas A&M beat Texas, 79-67, in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown Wednesday at Reed Arena in front of 4,831.
It marked the first time since 1995 that A&M (20-7, 9-5) swept the regular season series with Texas (13-12, 7-7).
A&M remains in third place in the Big 12 Conference behind Oklahoma and Missouri
?The ebb and flow of that game was just beautiful,? A&M coach Gary Blair said. ?We wanted the pace fast.?
Atunrase added a career best six assists to her total while blocking a shot and recording a steal. She was 10-of-18 from the field, 2-of-4 from three point range and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. It was the most field goals made of her career.
?She?â„¢s turning into the whole package,? Blair said.
A&M capitalized on 20 Texas turnovers by scoring 24 points.
?We were getting some easy baskets from transition and set plays,? Blair said.
It is the Aggies first 20-win season since 1995 and the 15th of Blair?â„¢s career.
The Aggies held a 15-point lead in the first half, 35-20, before Texas went on a 7-2 run to close the first half as A&M led 37-27 at halftime.
The run carried over to the second half as Texas scored five quick points to pull within 37-22 in the opening minutes.
Ashley Lindsey scored a layup to pull Texas within 40-38. Then Nina Norman capitalized on a steal to tie the game at 40-40 with 14:50 to play.
A&M drained 13 straight free throws in the second half to help pull away from the Longhorns. The Aggies connected on 16-of-18 free throws in the half including 12-of-14 in the final four minutes.
?It doesn?â„¢t get any better than that,? Blair said of the Aggies?â„¢ free throw shooting.
A Takia Starks jumper lifted A&M to 23-14 lead midway through the half. Starks finished with 13 points and four assists.
Then, the Aggies extended the lead to 35-20 following a 12-4 run where 10 points were scored in the paint.
In the second half, Texas connected on its first seven shots while the Aggies connected on just one of its first five attempts.
After Texas tied the game, A&M responded with a 16-9 run to take a 56-49 lead following a short jumper by Lenka Zimova midway through the second half
Then, Texas suffered a drought of five minutes without any field goals before Erika Arriaran hit a jumper from left side to make the score 56-51. Arriaran led Texas with 17 points.
?She just has a beautiful shot,? Blair said.
Later, Atunrase drained a three pointer from the left side to give A&M a 61-52 lead with 5:26 to play.
Four Aggies scored double digits. Guard A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin scored 14 points with nine assists and a 7-of-8 effort at the free throw line. Patrice Reado added 12 points and five assists.
Nina Norman scored 16 points for Texas with nine assists while Tiffany Jackson had 14 points.
The Aggies host Iowa State on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at Reed Arena. A&M seniors Erica Roy and Tamea Scales will be honored prior to the game.
NOTES?-Atunrase was selected as the State Farm Player of the Game.
Texas Head Coach Jody Conradt?-
?I thought we battled. We just couldn?â„¢t get a break tonight. We just have to keep on fighting, and I know we will.
?It was a pretty competitive game. It was a game of runs, and unfortunately we had one less then they did. We got in a little bit of a hole in the first half, but I was proud of our team for not getting down.
?Morenike (Atunrase) was really too much for us to handle. She played great, and she can just create her own shot.
?I thought our defense was pretty good, but we did not have an answer for Atunrase.
?We gave up the basketball 20 times on turnovers, and it is hard to beat anybody when that happens. I think we had three straight possessions down the stretch where we threw the ball away, and that was the ballgame.?
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
?The ebb and flow of that game was just beautiful. We wanted the pace fast. We tried to concentrate trying to beat them off the dribble and use our speed.
?Rebounds particularly early in the game were huge. We were committed to going to the boards. Neither team blocked out very well. It is the youth of both teams.
?We struggled against the zone early and then we finally hit some threes.
?Our guards came out shooting tonight. Aqua (Franklin) did a good job of distributing the ball. I thought (LaToya) Micheaux and (Patrice) Reado did a good job defensively. We had a nine-player rotation working and I am so proud of our young kids. Texas did what they had to do to get back in it and you knew they would. Give them credit. I thought (Nina) Norman and Erika (Arriaran) were excellent.
?Nina Norman kept them in the ball game. She is going to take her team like a senior should as far as she can.
?How about our freshman (Danielle) Gant, hitting the pressure free throws at the end? There is a lot of pressure in a game like this and she was up to the task.?