Texas A&M
6-2
Washington
4-4
Washington 65, Texas A&M 59
Dec 06, 2006 | Women's Basketball
December 06, 2006
The Washington Huskies didn't blow a big lead this time, although Texas A&M made things eerily close again.
Cameo Hicks scored 16 points and Andrea Plouffe added 13 to help the Huskies hold off the No. 15 Aggies on Wednesday night, 65-59.
"We had to step up," junior point guard Emily Florence said. "Because we didn't against Kent State -- and that's where we lost it. And Ohio State, we gave up another lead. We weren't going to let it happen again -- especially on our home court."
The Huskies (4-4) led by 14 points in the first half and were ahead the entire second half although Texas A&M cut their lead to two on four occasions.
The Huskies returned to Seattle after a disappointing road trip that saw them blow leads to No. 5 Ohio State and Kent State. Washington led by 18 at halftime at Kent State and were ahead by 11 in the second half at Ohio State.
The Huskies improved to 3-0 at home this season. When they won 19 games and made the NCAA tournament last season, they were 12-2 at Bank of America Arena.
"We just feel like this is our home," said Washington coach June Daugherty after her 300th coaching victory, including 177 in 11 seasons in Seattle. She previously coached seven seasons at Boise State. "We are Washington and we want to go out and establish ourselves."
Sophomore Danielle Gant led the Aggies (6-2) with a career-high 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting, with 13 rebounds.
"We thought we could come in and win because we're very athletic," said Gant, who made her second start of the season. Gant came off the Texas A&M bench as a freshman.
After a five-footer by Gant with 1:44 cut Washington's lead to 59-55, Hicks scored on a putback to give the Huskies a 61-55 lead with 1:24 left.
The Huskies outscored the Aggies 22-4 at the free-throw line. Texas A&M made only 4 of 14 free throws.
Takia Starks added 17 points for the Aggies, while Cheri Craddock had 11 points off the bench for the Huskies, including two 3-pointers.
After Texas A&M got within 53-51 on Gant's 10-footer with 4:52 to go, Craddock made her second 3-pointer and Florence added two free throws to put Washington ahead 58-51 with 4:16 on the clock.
Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said Craddock's second-half 3-pointer did his team in.
"We were fighting and scratching then," he said. "That was just the backbreaker right there."
Washington outrebounded the Aggies 37-32, with Hicks leading the way with six.
Trailing 7-5, the Huskies went on a 17-2 run with Hicks scoring six points and Plouffe adding four. Washington led 33-23 at halftime.
Florence's layup gave Washington its biggest lead of the first half, 33-19 with 3:54 left.
Plouffe, Washington's 6-foot-2 center, didn't start, but returned to the lineup after missing two games because of tendinitis in her knees. She sank nine of 10 free throws.
The Aggies played without their leading scorer, guard Morenike Atunrase, who broke a foot in a loss to Rice on Friday. She is out 4-6 weeks.
Blair said he hopes to have Atunrase back on Jan. 6 at Kansas State in Texas A&M's Big 12 opener.
"My fingers are crossed," he said. "The kid is obviously our best player."
A&M will return to action after taking a 12-day break to focus on final exams, before hosting North Texas on Monday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena.
Postgame Notes?...For the first time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of A?™Quonesia Franklin, Takia Starks, Danielle Gant, Patrice Reado and La Toya Micheaux?...Gant made only her fifth career start against the Huskies and recorded her second career double-double with a career-high 24 points and season-high 13 rebounds?...Washington evens the all-time series at 1-1?...The Aggies committed a season-high 22 turnovers with 17 in the first half alone?...A&M came within two points of UW with 5:48 remaining in regulation?...After starting of the season 6-0, the Aggies have lost their last two consecutive contests?...It was the first time A&M suffered back-to-back losses since falling to then No. 12 Baylor and No. 9 Oklahoma on Feb. 15 and 18, 2006, in Big 12 Conference play.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
On the game ?...
?We had 17 turnovers in the first half which was a little over our average this season. Your offense doesn?™t work when you have to change up everything. My five players had zero rebounds in 15 minutes in the first half. For us to get back in the ballgame, we had to go back to a smaller lineup and we only turned over the ball five times in the second half of play. Our kids were just dead tired. We came into tonight?™s game hoping to play only seven or eight players. We have the depth, but we didn?™t have the depth to press. It changes the whole flow of the game and you have to play a little tentative. Danielle Gant and Takia Starks were playing hard, but I didn?™t have any subs for them. I thought we could make a comeback, because they didn?™t finish us off in the first half.?
On playing without top player Morenike Atunrase ?...
?I don?™t make excuses, because I have 13 other players on scholarship. Those kids came in and did a decent job. It hurts from a mental preparation, because the kid who is hurt is our best player and team captain. Every team has setbacks and we are going to continue to work hard. We have four teams coming up that perhaps we can get better against. We hope to have Morenike back for the first (Big 12 Conference) game against K-State.?
On Washington ?...
?This is a good basketball community and they have an excellent coach. Last year, we played one of our better ballgames against Washington. That win was the jumpstart to our season and beating us will be perhaps their jumpstart to their season. This is a well-coached team. They were more prepared for us then the other three teams (before the Washington game). This team zoned us off on a lot of different things. (Cameo) Hicks is a great player and got us on some backdoor plays.?
SOPHOMORE GUARD/FORWARD DANIELLE GANT
On the team?™s loss ?...
?We thought we could come in here and win because we were more athletic, but it was very difficult. We didn?™t take care of the ball on the offensive end at all, but our defense is what got us back in the second half.?
