Texas A&M
5-0
Southern Illinois
0-5
No. 7 Texas A&M Gets Past Southern Illinois, 72-58
Dec 05, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 5, 2009
Southern Illinois Box Score in PDF Format 
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Tanisha Smith scored 20 points, Adaora Elonu added 14 points and five rebounds, and No. 7 Texas A&M used a late run in the second half to beat Southern Illinois, 72-58, in the Colliers International Classic on Saturday.
Danielle Adams added 14 points and six rebounds for the Aggies (5-0), who struggled offensively throughout the game against the rebuilding Salukis.
Teri Oliver scored 18 points and Christine Presswood had 16 points and four assists for Southern Illinois, which dropped to 0-5 under first-year coach Missy Tiber.
The Aggies, the fifth-highest scoring team in the country, were coming off a 106-56 win over Stephen F. Austin on Thursday, but were out of sync offensively much of the afternoon in Gary Blair's 200th career game coaching at Texas A&M.
The Aggies led by 12 at halftime, but Southern Illinois pulled within 46-39 after Oliver's fourth 3-pointer six minutes into the second half.
Smith then hit a 16-foot jumper, Adams made a pair of short one-handed shots and Smith added a 3-pointer to give the Aggies a 55-39 lead.
Smith, who scored a career-high 30 in the win over Stephen F. Austin, was 8 of 16 from the field against Southern Illinois.
The Salukis committed 27 turnovers and scored just two baskets over the final 11 minutes of the game. Those are the growing pains Tiber expected in her first season coaching Southern Illinois after a stellar four-year run at Division II Tusculum College.
Tiber, who guided Tusculum to a pair of appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament, has just three seniors on her roster while trying to rebuild a program that went 9-19 in 2008.
The Aggies, meanwhile, have 10 returners including two starters from last year's squad that finished 27-8.
The difference showed but not until late in the second half when Texas A&M put together its best run of the game while the Salukis' offense stalled out.
It was the first meeting between the two schools since Nov. 24, 1978.
Texas A&M led 37-25 at halftime but needed a late run to pull away from the winless but pesky Salukis.
Southern Illinois closed within 22-21 on Oliver's second straight 3-pointer with 5:43 remaining before Texas A&M closed out the half with a 15-4 burst.
Smith got the Aggies going with back-to-back midrange jumpers before Elonu scored all six of her first-half points during the run, while the Salukis went 0-for-5 from the field and made two turnovers before Presswood's layup at the buzzer.
A&M moves on to face host No. 19 Cal (4-2) in the championship game of the Colliers International Classic on Sunday, Dec. 6 at 4:30 p.m. (CT). It will mark only the second all-time meeting between the two schools and the Aggies' second top 25 test of the season. The game can be heard via a live audio link on www.AggieAthletics.com or locally in the Bryan-College Station area on KZNE 1150 AM The Zone.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the fifth time this season, Texas A&M used the starting five of Tanisha Smith, Damitria Buchanan (5-0).
• With the victory, the Aggies even the all-time series to 1-1 versus Southern Illinois. Both teams last met in 1978.
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair coached his 200th career game from the Aggie sidelines against SIU.
• Tanisha Smith scored in double figures by halftime for the third time this season. She registered 15 of her 20 points in the first half against Southern Illinois. Smith also reached double digits in the first half versus Rice and Stephen F. Austin. She is currently on a 13-game double digit scoring streak.
• The A&M defense forced the Salukis to commit their second-most turnovers (27) of the season.
• Junior Maryann Baker came off the bench and contributed a career-high five rebounds in a career-best 16 minutes of action versus SIU.
• Freshman and California native Cierra Windham recorded a career-high four points and two rebounds in only five minutes of play off the bench for the Aggies. She went perfect from the floor (1-for-1) and charity stripe (2-for-2).
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game ...
"They (Southern Illinois) had a very good game plan on how to attack us with a zone. We usually obliterate a zone with our outside shooting. Our point guards went 1-for-6 and 2-for-9. Tanisha (Smith) was only able to score five after 15 in the first half. We have to have other kids step-up. Southern Illinois came to play. They did a great job of blocking out. If we missed, they were getting the rebound the majority of the time. We scored two points on fast breaks and that's not going to cut it, particularly against a team playing a zone."
On facing a team like Southern Illinois looking for the upset ...
"Every time you go out and play, you are going to have a bull's eye on your back. This would have made their year, if they could have knocked off a top 25 team. Bowling Green beat Vanderbilt last night. It's happening everywhere. There's a lot of parity and there is a lot of good coaching. I would like to give (SIU head coach) Missy (Tiber) a huge compliment. She did a better job of having her team ready to play today. We didn't overlook them. They just kept beating us to the ball. We kept helping them out at the free throw line with 25 attempts. Most of the time, it was us being careless, reaching and not moving our feet. We came out here for this tournament hoping to play Cal and we got the matchup we wanted. We just have to step-up and do a better job against whoever we are playing. Right now, the story should be about Southern Illinois and how they fought and scratched. She has nine new kids. Give her a lot of credit. Tomorrow, we better have our `A' game or we're going to leave our heart in San Francisco."
Texas A&M Senior Guard/Forward Tanisha Smith
On the game ...
"I don't think our offense or defense got into a real good rhythm today. We didn't come out here and overlook (Southern Illinois). We just didn't come out with the same passion that we played with against Auburn or Duke. Defense always sets the tone for us and we didn't get after it tonight. It's a plus to get the win, but at the same time, we have to rest up and get ready for Cal tomorrow."
