Texas A&M
4-0
Stephen F. Austin
3-2
No. 7 Aggies Top Stephen F. Austin, 106-56
Dec 02, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2009
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Senior Tanisha Smith (Kansas City, Mo.) scored a career-high 30 points to lead the seventh-ranked Texas A&M women's basketball team to a 106-56 rout of Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday night before a crowd of 5,608 at Reed Arena.
It marked the most points scored by any Aggie in the Morenike Atunrase, Takia Starks and Danielle Gant. A&M (4-0) also scored the third-most points in school history surpassing the 100-point benchmark in the ballgame against the Ladyjacks (3-2).
Redshirt sophomore Tyra White (Kansas City, Mo.) added 17 points and sophomore Sydney Carter (DeSoto, Texas) had 16 as the Aggies shot 50 percent from the field for the third time this season (57.5) going 42-of-73 against SFA. A&M came into the contest with the fifth-best scoring offense in the nation.
The Aggie defense limited the Ladyjacks to 27.3 percent shooting and just 29 points in the first half. A&M also had 16 steals, including four by Carter and three each by Smith and sophomore Adaora Elonu (Houston, Texas). Elonu ended the night with a career-high 10 rebounds.
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Up next, the Aggies continue their four-game, seven-day stretch by traveling to the Colliers International Classic on Dec. 5-6 in Berkeley, Calif. A&M will take on Southern Illinois on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 4:30 p.m. (CT) and either host No. 19 Cal or Colorado State on Sunday, Dec. 6 in the consolation or championship game at 2:00 or 4:30 p.m. (CT).
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the fourth time this season, Texas A&M used the starting five of Tanisha Smith, Damitria Buchanan (4-0).
• The Aggies scored 106 points against Stephen F. Austin to mark the 11th time ever to reach the 100-point plateau in a single game in the 36-year history of the program. It was the third-most points scored in school history behind the Reed Arena record of 109 points versus McNeese State on Nov. 21, 2006 and school-record points of 111 versus Lamar on Nov. 15, 1995.
• With the victory, A&M picked up only its fifth all-time win in the 18-game series with SFA. The Aggies have now five of the last six meetings between the two schools.
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair improved his career record to an undefeated 5-0 against his former school.
• Tanisha Smith scored 16 of her career-high 30 points in the first half of play. It was the most points scored by an Aggie in the Morenike Atunrase versus Kansas on Jan. 15, 2006 and 29 points by all-time leading scorer Takia Starks against Texas Tech on Feb. 17, 2008. Smith became only the 15th player in school history on the 28th all-time occasion to reach 30-or-more points in a ballgame.
• A&M scored 57 points in the first half, the second-most points scored in a first half behind 61 first-half points against UT Pan American on Nov. 27, 1999. It was also the most points scored by the Aggies in the first half this season and first 50-point half since 50 first-half points versus Texas State on Dec. 13, 2008.
• Tyra White tied her previous career-high with 15 points in the first half alone. By game's end, she reset her career best with a 17-point outburst against Stephen F. Austin.
• Sydney Carter had a near perfect game from the floor going 3-for-5 from the field, 2-for-2 from the three-point line and a team season-high 8-for-8 (1.000) from the charity stripe. She ended the night with 16 points one short of tying her career high in the category.
• Adaora Elonu brought down a career-high 10 rebounds, her first double-digit board game of her career.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game ...
"Folks, I'm sorry for the turnovers. This game gave us something to work on. We did a poor job of passing the ball and handling the press. That was ugly basketball for you all to watch. Give them (Stephen F. Austin) a lot of credit for what they did in the first half. (Whitney) Cormier is just a very good player. She is just a smaller version of Tanisha Smith. She can play in this league or any other league with no problem at all. Their point guards where giving our points guards a lot of problems tonight. Our kids were ready to play, but they (SFA) came out with a `no fear' attitude and did a very, very good job on their press."
On Tyra White ...
"She was doing a good job of scoring within herself. She was solid tonight."
On the team's upcoming travel to California ...
"It will be good to go on the road and see San Francisco. Hopefully, we will see California in the championship game, but we will have to play Southern Illinois first. We are playing top 25 teams this season. We will miss our crowd on the road. Our crowd is really building and people are not here just to see the men's game. They came to see us early tonight. Our fan base is growing and they had a chance to see all 16 kids play tonight."
Texas A&M Senior Guard/Forward Tanisha Smith
On her 30-point performance and traveling to the Cal Tournament this weekend ...
"I believe I can score this easy every night. I've been staying late at practice and working on making better shots. The coaches have been getting on me about my rebounds and I'm working very hard on those. I want to add other facets to my game other than scoring. I didn't realize I had 30 points tonight. I am ready for this weekend's road trip (to California). I think it will give us, and our freshmen, some good experience on how to play on the road."
Stephen F. Austin Head Coach Lee Ann Riley
On the game ...
"A&M was very, very good. We started out the first five minutes of the game the way we wanted to. We are a pressing team and wanted to make them turn it over. But, their defense took us out of the game pretty quick. We struggled offensively and knocking down open shots their defense took away from us. Give them credit. This team may be Gary's most balanced team inside and outside. When you have five girls on the floor that can score, it makes it very, very hard to defend."
On Tanisha Smith ...
"We gave (Tanisha) Smith too much room tonight. She has some amazing shots in her arsenal including a great 15-to-20 foot jumper."
