Texas A&M
7-2
North Texas
3-7
Texas A&M 70, North Texas 52
Dec 18, 2006 | Women's Basketball
December 18, 2006
Sophomore Danielle Gant (Oklahoma City, Okla.) had 14 points and 11 rebounds as No. 18 Texas A&M overcame poor first-half shooting for a 70-52 victory over North Texas Monday night at Reed Arena.
The Aggies (7-2) shot 27 percent in the first half, but carried a 29-23 lead into halftime. They improved to 50 percent shooting in the second half and pushed their lead to 27 points with 4:41 remaining.
Sophomore Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) scored 20 points to lead four Aggies in double figures. Junior Patrice Reado (Houston, Texas) scored 12 off the bench and La Toya Micheaux had 10. Micheaux also had nine rebounds.
Sanetra Jackson led North Texas (3-7) with 24 points, including 6-of-6 free throw shooting. Amber Jackson scored 10. The Mean Green shot 41 percent from the field.
Micheaux contributed five steals for A&M, which scored 36 points off of 26 turnovers committed by North Texas. With the win, the Aggies bounce back after suffering back-to-back road losses at Rice on Dec. 1 and at Washington on Dec. 6.
Gant turned in her second-straight double-double, which marked the third of her career.
The Aggies will next take on Delaware State (4-4) on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena.
Postgame Notes?...The 3,095 fans in attendance marked the second-largest crowd of the season at Reed Arena?...A&M improved to an undefeated 5-0 at their home venue?...Head coach Gary Blair coached his 100th game at A&M?...He has won his 100th game at each of the three schools during his 22-year coaching career including Stephen F. Austin and Arkansas?...Freshman Katrina Limbaha (Riga, Latvia) made her first collegiate start and made the Aggies?™ first basket of the game?...Sophomore Danielle Gant turned in her third career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds?...It was her second-straight game to start and record a double-double after turning in a career-high 24 points and season-high 13 rebounds at Washington on Dec. 6?...Junior Patrice Reado who started five-straight games prior to the North Texas game added 12 off the bench...The Aggies showed improvement from the free throw line shooting 76.5 percent for the game (13-of-17) and making their first eight attempts?...Sophomore Takia Starks turned in her seventh double-digit game of the season with 20 points?...It marked her fifth 20-point game of her career.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
On the game ?...
?We were ready to play and had high energy, but the shots just didn?™t go down. At halftime, we talked about the second half and making things happen inside. The press finally picked up and we were able to force a lot of turnovers in the second half. We were able to hold them to five offensive boards, but at the same time, our transition defense was poor. We are going to take it (the win), even though it was ugly. That is what a 12-day layoff will do and hopefully, we won?™t be off that long next year. We were not in-sync tonight.?
On North Texas?...
?(Sanetra) Jackson makes some tough shots and was creating a lot of them. North Texas hung in there and we played a good second half. We were able to get our freshmen some minutes there in the second half. They (North Texas) will be good once conference season comes around.?
SOPHOMORE GUARD/FORWARD DANIELLE GANT
On the first half of play ?...
?We just didn?™t get off to a good start. Both coaches told us we had to pick up our defense and offense at halftime. We knew what we were capable of doing and came out and did just that in the second half. The next couple of games, we will have to play hard in both halves.?
SOPHOMORE CENTER LA TOYA MICHEAUX
On the team?™s rebounding effort against North Texas?...
?Rebounding wins games. The shots weren?™t falling in the first half, so it was our job (post players) to get rebounds and that?™s what kept us in the game.?
