Texas A&M
11-1
New Mexico
8-4
Adams Leads No. 10 Aggies To 84-69 Road Win at New Mexico
Dec 30, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2009
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Danielle Adams scored all 19 of her points in the second half, leading No. 10 Texas A&M to an 84-69 victory over New Mexico on Wednesday night at The Pit.
Adams missed all three of her shots in the first half before sinking 9-of-10 after halftime as Texas A&M (11-1) overcame a two-point deficit with a 17-4 run over the course of the first four minutes.
The Aggies capped the run with a five-point possession. Adams made a bank shot and was fouled. Adaora Elonu grabbed the missed free throw and passed it to Tyra White for a 3-pointer to give the Aggies a 49-38 lead. New Mexico (8-4) never got closer than six points the rest of the way.
Amy Beggin led the Lobos with 18 points and Geronika Jackson added 12 points.
Texas A&M had trouble getting it going early, missing seven straight shots after hitting its first basket. Through 11 minutes, the Aggies had hit just 3-of-13 from the field as the Lobos built their largest lead, 15-7.
In the second half, though, Texas A&M aggressively attacked New Mexico's zone, allowing Adams to find open space along the baseline. The Aggies shot 70.4 percent in the second half.
Tanisha Smith added 17.
The Aggies will ring in the New Year with Lamar (9-3) on Monday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. (CT) at Reed Arena. The Half-Price Holiday Hoops ticket promotion continues for Aggie women's basketball games through the team's Big 12 Conference home opener versus Iowa State on Jan. 13. Tickets start as low as $2.50. Fans can purchase Half-Price Holiday Hoops tickets online at: http://tickets.12thmanfoundation.com.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the first time this season, Texas A&M used the starting five of Tanisha Smith, Damitria Buchanan (1-0). It marked only the second career start for Adams and third for Carter.
• Danielle Adams scored all of her game-high 19 points in the second half of play. She has reached double figures in 10 of 11 games played this season.
• With the victory, the Aggies improved to 2-0 in the all-time series with New Mexico. It marked Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair's first career win at The Pit after going 0-1 at the venue as the head coach at Arkansas.
• For the game, the Aggies shot 55.4 percent from the floor including a 70.4 percent accuracy in the second half against the Lobos (19-of-27). They have now shot better than 50 percent on six occasions this season.
• The Aggies remain an undefeated 3-0 when playing in the state of New Mexico. They previously beat Ole Miss and Southern Utah in a holiday tournament hosted by New Mexico State during the 1995-96 season.
• Danielle Gant who went 10-for-10 against Missouri on Jan. 10, 2009 and former player Lisa Jordon who went 9-for-9 versus Oregon State on Dec. 5, 1987. White is currently on a six-game double-digit scoring streak.
• The Aggies scored an opponent season-high 84 points when playing New Mexico at The Pit, which was the second-most points scored by a UNM opponent this season. Coming into the game, the Lobo defense had only allowed an average of 61.8 points per game to the opposition.
• For the second-straight game, A&M produced 40-or-more points in the paint against their opponents. The Aggies went inside for 40 versus New Mexico and 52 against Prairie View A&M on Dec. 28.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game and Danielle Adams' presence in the second half of play ...
"Normally, we do not play her (Danielle Adams) that much inside. We felt like we could exploit her, because she's a kid who really was a three-four player in junior college. She played outside at the three. We felt like we had to get inside baskets. Our legs were leaving us. We were dead tired out there. Was it the altitude? I just thought it was a hard basketball game to play. We have been drinking water ever since we arrived here. My two little guards were just dead tired. But, Adams and (Tanisha) Smith took over the second half. Smith didn't play well in the first half, but she started having better shot selections and we sort of rigged up a different zone offense at halftime. Adams was finishing for us in the second half. A kid that size sometimes doesn't get the calls that you want. She has to learn how to finish strong, because she will be shoved around in the Big 12. We are going to go up against a lot larger kids, particularly Texas and Baylor. We are one of the smaller teams in the Big 12. I am just proud of this team, but I do not think they realize how hard it is to win in this place. This is the hardest place to play in America. The crowd is very knowledgeable and they are into the ballgame. They get on their own team when they are not playing well, because their expectations are high. When you all get it going, it's the best place in America to play."
Texas A&M Junior Forward/Center Danielle Adams
On the game and the keys to the second half ...
"We just wanted to get the ball inside and finish strong. That's what Coach Blair made a point about at halftime - to get the ball inside, because we relied on our jump shots a lot (in the first half). He wanted us to attack the basket. In the first half, we had a little bit of trouble on defense and offense. Our shots weren't falling. We were giving up wide-open threes. But in the second half, we adjusted all of that and went inside and stopped their three-point shots. It feels great to get a win here at The Pit. This was a great crowd. It was hard for us to hear. We had to rely on our point guards to talk which they did and we were able to run our offense well."
Texas A&M Senior Guard/Forward Tanisha Smith
On the game ...
"In the first half, we kind of struggled, but the second half was more of our game. We were penetrating the ball, running the floor well and getting defensive stops. We only had six steals, but keeping them in front of us and not letting them shoot the three as much was what got us going (in the second half)."
