November 03, 2006
In its first exhibition game of the season, the No. 14-ranked Texas A&M women?â„¢s basketball team defeated Athletes In Action, 77-57, Friday night before a crowd of 3,080 at Reed Arena.
For most of the first half, both teams got off to a slow start and had a total of 16 miscues combined. Despite an early 5-2 run sparked by a jumper made by junior All-American Morenike Atunrase (Shreveport, La.), AIA still kept the contest close in the half. The Aggies would head into the locker room with just a 29-25 lead.
Sophomore Danielle Gant (Oklahoma City, Okla.) scored 13 of her game-high 22 points in the second half of play. She made two free throws at the 14:03 mark, to give A&M its first double-digit lead of the night, 39-29. Gant shot a team-best 70 percent from the floor (7-10) and was nearly perfect from the charity stripe (6-7).
With 7:54 remaining in regulation, sophomore Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) drained a last-second three-pointer to put the Aggies ahead by eight. She finished with 11 points and was one of three Aggies to score in double figures along with Gant and Atunrase (18).
A&M would stretch its lead to 22 points with 2:24 to go, on a driving layup made by Starks. It marked their largest lead of the contest.
Meanwhile, the Aggie defense held Athletes In Action to its fewest point total in four exhibition games played of its 2006 college tour. AIA previously scored a season-low 62 points in a two-point loss at Michigan on Nov. 1.
For the game, A&M shot 48.4 percent (31-64) from the field, dished out 24 assists and made 16 steals. They forced AIA to 20 turnovers in the second half alone.
Up next, the Aggies will take on the Houston Jaguars in their final exhibition game of the year on Monday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena. Fans can purchase season tickets by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE or online at AggieAthletics.com.
Postgame Notes?...A&M used the starting lineup of junior guard Morenike Atunrase, junior forward Patrice Reado, junior guard A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin, sophomore center La Toya Micheaux and sophomore forward Danielle Gant?...The Aggies remain an undefeated 3-0 in exhibition play against Athletes In Action in the Gary Blair Era?...A&M held Athletes In Action to its fewest point total (77 points) in four exhibition games played against collegiate competition this year?...AIA plays Big 12 Conference rival Texas Tech next on Nov. 5.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
On the game?...
?The first half was sluggish and we opened up the game with two straight turnovers. Give them (Athletes In Action) credit. They ran their offense very well and beat us on a couple of slip plays where we didn?â„¢t rotate. In the first half, our post players got into foul trouble, but we are going to play aggressive defense. We made some adjustments in the second half, particularly in what we were doing against their triangle and two. We started attacking to the basket more, instead of living off the jump shot, which we were doing early on. Looking at our shot selection in the second half, we probably shot 75 percent inside. It was either in transition, scoring at will or getting to the free throw line, instead of shooting the jump shot.?
JUNIOR GUARD/FORWARD MORENIKE ATUNRASE
On the team?â„¢s second half mentality?...
?In the locker room during halftime, we talked about picking up our defensive intensity, creating opportunities for steals and forcing more turnovers in the second half. We just wanted to pick up our overall pressure and intensity all around.?
On the play of teammate Danielle Gant?...
?It?â„¢s great to have more depth on the team this year. It?â„¢s nice to have someone like Danielle take the pressure off of myself, Aqua (Franklin) or the five returning starters. Of course, Takia (Starks) also stretches the defense even more with her shooting ability. But, Danielle has definitely become more of a shooting threat for us.?