Texas A&M
15-3, 3-2
Oklahoma State
12-5, 1-3
No. 7 Aggies Get Past Cowgirls Down The Stretch, 60-50
Jan 24, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2009
Oklahoma State Box Score in PDF Format 
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) - Senior All-America candidate Danielle Gant (Oklahoma City, Okla.) turned in her fourth double-double of the season with a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 7 Texas A&M to a 60-50 road victory at No. 25 Oklahoma State Saturday night before a crowd of 4,568 at historic Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Senior All-America candidate Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) added 15 as the Aggies (15-3, 3-2) snapped a two-game losing skid in Big 12 Conference play by surviving a late comeback attempt led by Oklahoma State's Andrea Riley, who turned in 21 points despite a 4-of-19 shooting performance from the floor versus A&M's pressure defense.
Riley brought the Cowgirls (12-5, 1-3) back within one, 51-50, after her fourth-straight free throw with 1:23 to go in regulation, but the Aggies went 9-for-10 from the charity stripe and held OSU scoreless the rest of the way for their fifth-straight win in Stillwater. A&M has now won 10-of-11 in the series, including a win in the Big 12 Conference championship game last year en route to its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight.
For the game, the Aggies held OSU to a season-low 22.9 percent shooting from the floor and outrebounded the Cowgirls, 49-37, including a 12-rebound effort by senior center La Toya Micheaux (Missouri City, Texas).
Up next, A&M will travel over to the state capital for the first of two annual State Farm Lone Star Showdown meetings with No. 14/16 Texas (14-3, 2-1) on Wednesday, Jan. 28 in Austin, Texas. Tipoff between the Aggies and Longhorns is scheduled for 7 p.m. (CT).
The A&M Maroon Club is sponsoring a fan bus trip to Austin to cheer on the Aggies versus the Longhorns. The cost of the trip is $25 for Maroon Club members and $30 for all other Aggie fans. It includes one ticket to the game, a snack pack, a media guide and a chance to win free prizes. For more information or to sign up for the trip, please contact Lindsey Bounds at lbounds@athletics.tamu.edu or (979) 846-3024.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the first time this season, Texas A&M used the starting five of Danielle Gant and La Toya Micheaux (1-0). Freshman Tanisha Smith made her seventh.
• The Aggies picked up their 16th all-time victory in the 36-game series including the last three versus the Cowgirls. The last six games in the A&M and OSU series have been decided by 10 points or less. The Aggies have now won four-straight road games at Stillwater since 2005.
• Danielle Gant reached double figures against Oklahoma State for the third time in the last three-straight meetings between the two schools on the road in Stillwater. She previously scored 18 points in 2008 and 14 points in 2007. Her game-high 22 points marked her 15th career 20-point game. She added a game-high tying 12 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season and 16th of her career.
• Takia Starks registered her fifth-straight game in double figures with 15 points versus OSU.
• For the second consecutive game, Smith opened up with all of A&M's first five points of the ballgame against OSU. She previously had six of the team's first eight points versus No. 4 Baylor on Jan. 21.
• With 12 rebounds against OSU, La Toya Micheaux moved into the top 5 all-time in career rebounds (717). She surpassed former player Michell Tatum who brought down 710 boards from 1981-85. Micheaux turned in her fourth game of the season with double-digit boards. A&M won the battle of the boards, 49-37, and has outrebounded a total of 12 opponents this season for an 11-1 record when doing so.
• Redshirt freshman Tyra White came off the bench and contributed a league career-high six points versus the Cowgirls.
• The A&M defense forced the Cowgirls to shoot a season-low 22.9 percent (11-of-48) from the floor aside from its previous season-low of 33.3 percent from the field at No. 5 Duke on Nov. 14.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game ...
"When you see the two of us play, it's not just beautiful chemistry and motion and all of that pretty stuff. It's two of the hardest working teams you will ever see. They were shorthanded today without (Megan) Byford and I think that hurt them a little. Give (Shyvon) Spears a lot of credit. She did well in there. Dr. Naismith forgot in his opening book to realize that defense is part of basketball. If he could have seen these two teams play defense, he would have been very proud of both. He also put a lid on that peach basket up there. Both teams had some pretty good shots, particularly us. The game might have been won in the first half when we played as poorly as we did and missed the shots that we did and were two points down. That really gave us a lot of confidence going into the second half. I was excited for Kurt (Budke) with the crowd that he was able to draw tonight, because he very much deserves it."
On OSU's free throws and A&M's few free throws in the second half winning the game at the end ...
"Isn't it ironic? That was the only thing that wasn't contested the whole night and both teams shot very well. Our goal is to always have (Andrea) Riley shoot under 35 percent. That little kid is such a great player. She had to put the team on her shoulders. We had a little more balance. (La Toya) Micheaux's two baskets that she made (down the stretch) were huge for us. When you can go on the road and win, it is tough. I appreciated the atmosphere. It sounded more like 10,000 fans in there."
On Maryann Baker's key free throws in the final seconds of the game ...
"Maryann Baker is the hardest working kid in practice. She was (Taylor) Hardeman in practice and she was Rachel Allison in our last practice (before the Baylor game). She imitates everyone so well, but I need her to imitate herself, because she is a very good player."
Texas A&M Senior Forward/Guard Danielle Gant
On a scratch-and-claw game ...
"In the first half, we didn't come out ready to play and they did. We made the adjustments at halftime. We knew what we had to do on (Andrea) Riley and knew what we had to do on the three-point shooters. That's what we did on the defensive end and we were able to convert on the offensive end."
On the team's second-half defensive effort ...
"We are very proud of our defense. Considering what we did against Baylor, our defense wasn't really good at all. We went back in practice and that's what we worked on. Last year, we were known for our defense, so this year, that's what we are trying to get back to, having good defense."
On the win after losing the last two ballgames against top 10 opponents ...
"It's very big. We lost two in a row. It was a win-win situation. We knew we couldn't lose this game, so we just came out ready to play."
Texas A&M Senior Guard Takia Starks
On the team's defense in the second half ...
"That's what won us this game. We wanted (Andrea) Riley to score contested shots without fouling. At times it happened and at times it didn't happen. It played into our favor. Most of her shots came from the free throw line. We wanted her to earn it. We didn't give up too many threes on her, but did with a couple of other players. Staying consistent and playing our help side (defense) which is our bread and butter. We stuck with that tonight and I think that contributed to our win."
Oklahoma State Head Coach Kurt Budke
On the game ...
"Well, obviously, the one concern we had with Megan (Byford) not out there is how we were going to match up inside and you really don¹t have to look into the stats to figure out why we lost this game tonight. It's disappointing, we felt like we had a chance to win on our home floor against a top 10 team. Gary is a great coach and the players are great players, but I felt like we had an opportunity that we might have let slip away tonight."
On the matchup ...
"It was pretty much a typical (Texas) A&M-Oklahoma State game. Just hard fought; we knew it was going to be in the fifties. If we don't foul at the end then it's a four or five point game just kind of like we thought it would be. It's just disappointing. The kids worked really hard and we just didn't finish it tonight."
Oklahoma State Senior Forward Shaunte' Smith
On the game ...
"Every time we play them, it always comes down to the last minute or two. That's the best defense we've played since the Big 12 started and they always have that tough, hard-nosed defense so it was a tough game."
