Texas A&M
2-0
Mercer
0-2
Texas A&M 95, Mercer 41
Nov 16, 2006 | Women's Basketball
November 16, 2006
Sophomore Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) scored a game-high 19 points to lead the No. 13-ranked Texas A&M women?™s basketball team to a 95-41 rout of Mercer Thursday night before a crowd of 2,680 at Reed Arena.
The Aggies started the game off on a 9-0 run and kept the Bears from scoring a basket until the 16:08 mark. A&M would take a 44-24 lead into halftime. Starks had 11 of her 19 points in the first half.
For the game, A&M shot a season-best 58.7 percent (37-63) from the floor and a scorching 73.3 percent (11-15) from beyond the three-point arc. A&M?™s 11 three-pointers were one short of the school single-game record of 12 set against Brown on Feb. 8, 1996.
Junior All-American candidate Morenike Atunrase (Shreveport, La.) was the only other A&M player to score in double figures with 15. Twelve of the 13 Aggies who entered the game contributed in the scoring column. Head coach Gary Blair also picked up his 50th career victory at A&M versus the visiting Bears.
In the second half of play, the Aggie defense held the Bears to just 17 points. Six of those points were makes from the free throw line. It was the fewest points scored by an A&M opponent since Saint Peter?™s scored 16 points in the first half in last season?™s home opener on Nov. 21, 2005.
The Aggies (2-0) close out their three-game homestand at Reed Arena with McNeese State (0-2) on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. They will then travel to Southern California for the Loyola Marymount Ayres Hotel Thanksgiving Tournament on Nov. 24-25 in Los Angeles, Calif.
Postgame Notes?...For the second time this season, A&M used the starting lineup of A?™Quonesia Franklin, Takia Starks, Morenike Atunrase, Patrice Reado and La Toya Micheaux?...The Aggies improve to 2-0 with the starting five?...Starks turned in her second consecutive double-digit game with 19 points?...She shot 3-of-4 from downtown?...Atunrase also had her second double-digit game of the season with 15?...A&M?™s 11 three-pointers were the most in a single game since draining nine against Missouri State on March 24, 2005?...It was one shy of the school record (12)?...For the second-straight contest, the Aggies outscored their opponent by more than 20 points?...Freshman forward Damitria Buchanan (Houston, Texas) made her collegiate debut against Mercer and turned in a near double-double performance with nine points and seven rebounds?...Texas A&M assistant coach Kelly Bond (Chicago, Ill.) was absent from the sidelines due to the passing of her mother.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
On the game ?...
?One of our goals on the board was to have continuity in substitutions. We didn?™t have it in the first half. Our first group was playing well offensively during the first 10 minutes of the game, but defensively we were making mistakes. We were always a pass late. They were doing a good job of holding the ball as long as they could. They made a couple of good backdoor plays on us and we got a little bit lazy.?
On Takia Starks?™ play against Mercer ?...
?T-Kay had a lot of open looks whether it was against the zone or their defense. She stepped up tonight as an All-Big 12 two-guard. You want to see kids like that excel and Aqua (Franklin) was making sure to make that extra pass (to all of her teammates) tonight.?
On the passing of assistant coach Kelly Bond?™s mother?...
?Our hearts go out to Kelly right now. This is a very difficult and tough time for all of us. Kelly had a hand in recruiting all of our players. We are going to greatly miss her, but we are going to miss her mother even more.?
SOPHOMORE GUARD TAKIA STARKS
On the game ?...
?My teammates had a big hand in my scoring tonight. They set good screens and Aqua (Franklin) found me at the right time. We held them (Mercer) off and had those spurts. We showed that we could maintain our game.?
