Texas A&M
14-2, 2-1
Oklahoma
14-2, 3-0
No. 6 Aggies Fall To No. 3 Oklahoma, 71-59
Jan 18, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2009
Oklahoma Box Score in PDF Format 
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - Despite a valiant second-half effort, No. 6 Texas A&M fell to No. 3 Oklahoma, 71-59, Sunday afternoon at the Lloyd Noble Center.
The Aggies (14-2, 2-1) had been off to their best start in Big 12 Conference play and won three of their last four meetings with the Sooners. Senior All-America candidate Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) scored all of her team-high 19 points in the second half, while senior All-America candidate Danielle Gant (Oklahoma City, Okla.) added 18 including 10 on 5-of-7 shooting in a low-scoring first half for the Aggies.
Danielle Robinson led the way for the Sooners (13-2, 3-0) with 19 points and 10 assists and was one of three OU players to turn in double-doubles. Whitney Hand had a career-high five three-pointers in six attempts and scored 17 points for OU, which won its ninth-straight game overall and its second-straight over a ranked conference foe.
OU's Courtney Paris had 11 points and 14 rebounds to extend her NCAA-record streak of consecutive double-doubles to 108 games, but did not reach double digits in points until 1:01 remained. Her twin sister, Ashley Paris, had 16 points and 10 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season.
About the only negative for the Sooners was 22 turnovers which prevented a lopsided score from being even more so. Oklahoma shot 47 percent from the field and outrebounding the Aggies 43-27. A&M shot 39 percent from the field and had 17 turnovers.
The Aggies cut a 19-point deficit early in the second half to 12 points at 41-29 on a three-point play by Starks with 15:58 left. Hand started a 14-0 Oklahoma run with a put-back, followed by a three-pointer, and another three-pointer by Carlee Roethlisberger gave the Sooners a 55-29 lead with 11:54 left.
Texas A&M, whose only previous loss had come to Florida State on Jan. 5, rallied within 60-51 on another three-point play by Starks with 3:23 left, but after that, Robinson went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line and assisted on two baskets by Courtney Paris to keep the Sooners comfortably ahead.
OU committed 13 first-half turnovers but still led 35-22 at halftime, thanks in part to 4-of-4 three-point shooting by Hand and a 23-11 rebounding advantage.
The Aggies missed their first four shots as Oklahoma sprinted to a 7-0 lead, prompting a quick timeout by Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair. The Aggies pulled within 9-7, but Ashley Paris had three baskets in an 11-0 Oklahoma run, including a 19-foot jumper that made it 20-7 and led to another Texas A&M timeout.
But despite 10 first-half points by Gant, the Aggies proved unable to significantly cut their deficit, as Oklahoma extended its lead to 35-20 before a layup by redshirt freshman Tyra White (Kansas City, Mo.) two seconds before halftime. The Aggies shot 38 percent from the field in the half and had 12 turnovers, four coming on offensive fouls.
A&M will face its second consecutive top 10 opponent in No. 5/5 Baylor (15-1, 3-0) on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at Reed Arena in a Battle of the Brazos matchup. Tipoff between the Aggies and Lady Bears is set for 7 p.m. (CT).
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the 10th time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Takia Starks, Danielle Gant, La Toya Micheaux (8-2).
• With the loss, A&M falls to 2-14 when playing on the road in Norman.
• Danielle Gant extends her double-digit scoring streak to six-straight games with 18 points versus OU.
• Junior reserve forward Damitria Buchanan came off the bench and contributed a career-high four steals in 20 minutes of action against the Sooners. Ironically, her previous career-best was three steals in the team's last outing versus OU on March 6, 2008.
• Sophomore reserve Maryann Baker hit two free throws, a season-best for her, in A&M's late second-half run.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On Oklahoma ...
"Before we even came in here, I thought OU was playing better ball then the rest of us in the Big 12 South. That was proven today. They were executing at a high level on the offensive end. We could not score to be able to get into our press. We were struggling. We did not get beat today by (Oklahoma All-American) Courtney Paris. We got beat by Oklahoma. We gave (Danielle) Robinson those two easy baskets early and threes to (Whitney) Hand. By then, the damage had been done. Give Oklahoma a lot of credit. They have balance and are a much better team because of it."
On the first half and the late second-half comeback ...
"In the first half, we were tentative and they were aggressive. When it was 20-10, it felt like it was 30-10, but we were still in the ballgame. Then it was fast and ugly like we like it, but we were missing baskets in transition. We will do a better job. OU held serve today. What we need to do is hold serve against Baylor on Wednesday night. That's all that you are doing when you are playing in the Big 12 South. I was proud of our team that we were able to come back and we did not fold. The next four teams that we are playing are better than anyone we have played this year. We will find out how good we are."
Texas A&M Senior Forward/Guard Danielle Gant
On the team not being able to press during the game ...
"It changed it (our game) a lot. We are a defensive team and our offense feeds off of it. That is something we will have to work on when we get back home."
