November 06, 2006
In its final exhibition game of the season, the Texas A&M women?â„¢s basketball team cruised past the Houston Jaguars, 94-36, in front of a crowd of 1,890 Monday night at Reed Arena.
Sophomore Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) recorded a game-high 15 points in the 58-point victory for the Aggies. She was one of 12 players on the A&M roster to contribute in the scoring column.
The Aggies opened the game on a 19-4 run paced by six points in a two-minute span by junior Patrice Reado (Houston, Texas). Despite two free throws from former player Tamea Scales and a driving layup by KeKe Harris in the early going, the Jaguars suffered a scoring drought until the 11:33 mark of the first half. For the game, the Jaguars shot a meager 18.8 percent from the floor (12-64) against the Aggies.
Reado ended the night with 10 points and freshman Adrian McGowen (Goodrich, Texas) contributed 11 points off the bench in her unofficial collegiate debut.
Sophomore center La Toya Micheaux (Missouri City, Texas) brought down seven of the team?â„¢s 60 rebounds of the contest, while junior point guard A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin (Tyler, Texas) dished out six of the team?â„¢s 23 assists. Franklin also posted nine points and five rebounds in the winning cause.
For the second-straight game, the Aggie defense held their opponent to their second-lowest scoring production in eight exhibition games played against NCAA Division I schools. The Jaguars previously scored a season-low 31 points in a 41-point loss to rival Texas on Nov. 2. A&M held Athletes In Action to a season-low 57 points on Friday night in its first exhibition game.
The Aggies (0-0) host 2006 NCAA Tournament participant Pepperdine (0-0) in its 2006-07 season home opener on Friday, Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. at Reed Arena. The game will be a part of a doubleheader with the men?â„¢s basketball team. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE or online at AggieAthletics.com.
Postgame Notes?...Texas A&M used the starting lineup of sophomore guard Takia Starks, junior guard A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin, sophomore center La Toya Micheaux, junior forward Patrice Reado and junior forward Morenike Atunrase?...The Aggies are now 6-2 in exhibition games played during the Gary Blair Era...A&M went an undefeated 2-0 in exhibition play for the first time since the 2003-04 season?...Former players Tamea Scales (2003-06) and Brandy Jones (1998-01) each scored five points for the Jaguars in their homecoming?...The A&M defense became the first nationally-ranked team to hold the Jaguars under 40 points this season?...No. 11 Rutgers held the Jaguars to 54 points on Nov. 4 and No. 5 Tennessee held them to just 51 points on Nov. 5.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
On the game?...
?When you play 13 players in the game, it?â„¢s hard to maintain continuity. But, this ballgame is a chance for us to evaluate our players heading into Friday?â„¢s opener (against Pepperdine). We started off the game sluggish, but did a lot better job in the second half. We rebounded the ball pretty well and that made up for a lot of bad shooting. In the second half, we made better decisions on the court. We have to understand our offense better, because we will play the real deal on Friday night. (Takia) Starks played a whole lot better than in our last game against Athletes In Action. Overall, we did well on defense and that?â„¢s one way to stop the press.?