March 08, 2006
Takia Starks scored 18 of her 22 points in the second half as No. 22 Texas A&M beat Nebraska, 73-64, to advance to the semifinals at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women?â„¢s Basketball Championship Wednesday night at Reunion Arena in front of 3,065.
It marks the Aggies (23-7) first appearance in the semifinal round. A&M will face No. 1- Baylor on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. Nebraska falls to 17-12.
?Give credit to Nebraska,? A&M coach Gary Blair said. ?(Kiera) Hardy came out on fire and we had our best defenders on her most of the time. Neither one of us played well. We make no apologies. We?â„¢ll take the win and move on.?
Kiera Hardy led all scores with 28 points matching the most points allowed by the Aggies this season. Baylor?â„¢s Sophia Young tallied 28 points in the first meeting.
With the Aggies trailing 29-27 at halftime, Starks returned to the floor to score 18 second half points sparking the team. She connected on 7-of-12 from the field in the frame.
?I was feeling it,? Starks said. ?Everytime I got the chance I took it.?
It was the third 20-plus scoring game for Starks and her first since the Utah State game in December.
A&M used a 17-6 run early in the second half as Starks scored 12 points to give the Aggies a 48-41 lead with 11:55 to play.
The shots kept falling for the Aggies as three straight baskets by Patrice Reado, Danielle Gant and Morenike Atunras lifted A&M to its largest lead, 62-49 with 6:06 to play.
Nebraska would get no closer than 65-58 the rest of the way.
A&M connected on 57 percent of its field goals in the second half.
Atunrase, an All-Big 12 First Team selection scored 10 of 12 points for the Aggies midway through the first half to help A&M to a 14-8 lead. Erica Roy added the next five to give the Aggies their largest first half lead at 17-8 with 9:53 to play.
Foul trouble in the first half challenged the Aggies?â„¢ rotation. Atunrase was sidelined the final 11 minutes while Starks and A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin also missed significant time.
While the Aggies?â„¢ three leading scorers were on the bench, Nebraska put together a 19-8 run the remainder of the half to hold a 29-27 halftime lead.
Hardy exploded for 16 first half points for the Huskers.
Atunrase returned in the second half scoring nine points. It was her second straight 20-plus scoring game.
It was the second game for A&M to have two 20-plus point scorers. Atunrase and Starks each scored 20-plus against Washington earlier.
Danielle Gant grabbed her second straight double-digit rebounding game surpassing her career high set last game with a game-high 16 rebounds. She also had seven points and three steals.
?Give Danielle Gant a lot of credit,? Blair said. ?I know she had a lot of rebounds at the half, and that kid knows how to play.?
Atunrase said she knew Gant was going to be a great rebounder last summer.
?She?â„¢s a great fundamental player all-around,? Atunrase said. ?She knows the game well. She just looks for it, she always presses the boards. Even in the summer we knew she was going to be a great rebounder. I think its just her fundamentals.?
Freshman La Toya Micheaux added eight rebounds for the Aggies.
Kelsey Griffin added 15 points for the Huskers while TK LaFleur scored 10 points.
NOTES?-Takia Starks and Danielle Gant were selected as the State Farm Players of the Game.