Texas A&M
10-3, 0-1
Kansas State
13-2, 1-1
Kansas State 48, Texas A&M 45
Jan 06, 2007 | Women's Basketball
January 06, 2007
In the Big 12 Conference opener, sophomores Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) and Danielle Gant (Oklahoma City, Okla.) each scored 10 points as No. 17 Texas A&M dropped a 48-45 decision to Kansas State Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
Claire Coggins scored a game-high 20 points for the Wildcats and recorded her 1,000 career point in the process.
The Aggies had a chance to win in the final seconds, but Coggins stole the ball and then hit one free throw to give the Wildcats a 48-45 lead with seven seconds left.
Sophomore A?™Quonesia Franklin's desperation shot at the buzzer didn't fall and A&M (10-3, 0-1) dropped to 0-3 on the road this season.
K-State (13-2, 1-1), won its 13th consecutive game at Bramlage Coliseum, dating back to March 17, 2006. It was the Wildcats?™ first win over a ranked opponent since a 72-69 victory over No. 11 Texas in the 2005 Big 12 Championship.
Coggins hit a three-pointer with 9:09 left in the first half to reach the 1,000-point mark. She scored the final nine points of the half for the Wildcats, who trailed 26-24 at the break. Both teams exchanged leads eight times in the contest. The largest Aggie lead was six points with 13:44 left to play in the first half.
Ashley Sweat scored 11 points for the Wildcats, who shot 47.5 percent from the field. Marlies Gipson posted her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Aggies shot a season-low 31.7 percent from the floor but forced the Wildcats to turn over the ball 24 times in the game. A&M missed its first 11 shots from beyond the arc, before Franklin hit a three-pointer with 5:13 remaining to pull the Aggies within a point. They also finished 1-of-13 from three-point range.
A&M continues Big 12 play and travels to Texas Tech (9-6, 0-1) for a Wednesday, Jan. 10 matchup in Lubbock, Texas. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at United Spirit Arena.
Postgame Notes?...For the second time this season, A&M used the starting lineup of A?™Quonesia Franklin, Takia Starks, Danielle Gant, Patrice Reado and La Toya Micheaux?...The Aggies are 0-2 when using the lineup including a 65-59 loss at Washington on Dec. 6...It was the Aggies?™ third-straight loss on the road this season?...They have compiled a 1-4 record away from Reed Arena?...A&M?™s 45 points was the lowest scoring production in a single game this season?...The Aggies shot a season-low 31.7 percent (19-of-60) from the floor and a season-low 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from beyond the arc?...K-State won its 11th game in the all-time series, but committed its fourth-most turnovers of the season with 24?...The Wildcats were the third-straight opponent to turn over the ball 20 or more times versus A&M?...It was the 31st career Big 12 Conference start for Franklin, 17th for Starks, third for Gant, 13th for Reado and 16th for Micheaux?...Junior All-American candidate Morenike Atunrase (Shreveport, La.) entered the game with 12:41 remaining in the first half and scored her first basket since Dec. 1 at the 8:43 minute mark?...It was her first field goal since suffering a fracture to her left foot in a 79-66 loss at Rice on Dec. 1...She missed five games of the season and the Aggies went 4-1 during her absence?...Atunrase finished the game with four points and seven rebounds?...Freshmen Damitria Buchanan (Houston, Texas) and Adrian McGowen (Goodrich, Texas) made their debuts in Big 12 play versus the Wildcats?...Reado fouled out of the game with 4:59 remaining?...She turned in six points and six rebounds in 27 minutes of action.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
On the game ?...
?It was a pretty good basketball game with two teams that played very hard. The difference in the first half was there were too many uncontested points on layups and three-pointers. Transition hurt us. We didn?™t have enough guards and couldn?™t execute 40 minutes of pressing. That hurt us a little and that?™s what we did with K-State last year. (Kimberly) Dietz was able to stay in the ballgame this year. Big 12 defense is a lot different than in non-conference play. We just didn?™t get it done. That was just poor execution on our part at the end of the game. We drew up a three-point play and were going for the win. When you are on the road, you don?™t want to go into overtime.?
On Claire Coggins?™ game-high 20-points against the Aggies ?...
?(Claire) Coggins is a senior who knows how to play. She may not be in the rafters (with a retired jersey at Kansas State), but she would be on my lineup any day. She comes out to play the game.?
On the team?™s shooting woes ?...
?The shots were there, but it?™s a shame we didn?™t finish them. Count their layups and then count our layups. Other than that, we had to work for everything. We are young in certain positions, but we are mature in others. We?™ll learn from this and move on to the Texas Tech game where it will be a more physical game.?
On the team?™s defense and using Morenike Atunrase in the game ?...
?Defensively, I think we did what we wanted to do. I think we had control in the first half and I was pleased with what we did. I wasn?™t planning to play Morenike (Atunrase), because she?™s only been out of her boot for two days. We had no other options on the bench at the time and my freshmen were not ready for this level of play yet.?
SOPHOMORE GUARD TAKIA STARKS
On the team?™s defensive pressure ?...
?We thought we committed fouls that we shouldn?™t have, but pressured them throughout the game. They had a couple of back doors on us and it was hard to adjust.?
