Texas A&M
5-0
Loyola Marymount
3-3
Texas A&M 77, Loyola Marymount 52
Nov 25, 2006 | Women's Basketball
November 25, 2006
Three Texas A&M players scored in double figures including tournament MVP Morenike Atunrase (Shreveport, La.) who led the No. 12-ranked Aggies to a 77-52 victory over Loyola Marymount to claim the LMU Ayres Hotel Thanksgiving Classic title Saturday night at Gersten Pavilion.
Atunrase, a junior All-American candidate, recorded a season-high 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor including a trio of three-pointers from downtown. She was named to the all-tournament team along with teammate A?™Quonesia Franklin (Tyler, Texas) who dished out eight assists with no turnovers against the Lions. Sophomore Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) also contributed 18 points in the winning cause.
The Aggies jumped out to a 16-4 run in the first six minutes of the contest, but LMU would respond back with a 10-2 run to close out the first half. A&M took a 14-point lead into halftime,44-30.
A&M scored 32 of its points in the paint behind stellar post play from sophomore La Toya Micheaux (Missouri City, Texas) and junior Patrice Reado (Houston, Texas). Micheaux registered six points and seven rebounds, while Reado had 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Aggies.
For the game, A&M shot 52.5 percent (19-34) from the floor and 75.0 percent (9-12) from the free throw line. It was the third time this season A&M has shot 50 percent or better from the field.
Amanda Decoud led LMU (3-3) with a team-high 11 points. The Aggie defense held the Lions to 34.4 percent (21-61) shooting from the floor and caused LMU to turnover the ball 18 times.
Up next, the Aggies (5-0) return home to College Station and host Pac-10 Conference power Arizona (3-2) on Tuesday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena.
Postgame Notes?... It was a first time meeting between A&M and Loyola Marymount?...The Aggies improved to 5-0 on the season with the 25-point victory over LMU?...It marked the fourth time this season to defeat an opponent by 24 or more points?...Junior Morenike Atunrase recorded her eighth career 20-point game with a season-high 22 points against LMU?...She has scored in double figures in five-straight contests for the Aggies?...Junior Patrice Reado turned in her second career double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds?...Her 11 boards tied a career-best set against Oklahoma State on Jan. 4, 2006.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
On the game ?...
?We played so much better today than the way we played against West Virginia yesterday. Morenike (Atunrase) and Takia (Starks) came out red hot today and made good decisions. Our star of the show was Aqua Franklin. She played 75 minutes over the two games and had only one turnover. That?™s what can make a good team, when you have a good quarterback or point guard to spark the team. Our bench played very well and gave us good minutes. We didn?™t force too many turnovers, but we made LMU play faster than they wanted. Overall, it was a great trip and our coaching staff did well in preparing us for these games. What I want to do is get better each game. This tournament prepares us for Arizona (on Tuesday night) who will be a carbon copy of West Virginia and be a very physical team.?
JUNIOR GUARD/FORWARD MORENIKE ATUNRASE
On the team?™s preparation for Tuesday?™s Arizona game ?...
?These two games definitely help us leading up to the Arizona game. It reemphasized our play in the NCAA Tournament last year and that we have to play hard each and every game. It?™s all about defense and defense is what sparks our team.?
JUNIOR GUARD A?™QUONESIA FRANKLIN
On coming out strong against LMU ?...
?We came out more of the aggressor in this game compared to West Virginia. We pushed the ball and the key of this game was to run, run, run. We were able to play our style of basketball and make LMU play faster than they wanted to. These are two great wins for us and winning our only tournament this year is big time for us. We will use the momentum from this game heading into the Arizona game (Tuesday night).?
