Texas A&M
6-0
California
4-3
No. 7 Aggies Capture Colliers International Classic Title
Dec 06, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2009
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Sydney Carter hit her head on the court drawing a charge. Sydney Colson took an elbow to the face that gave her a cut above her eye and blurry vision.
Both returned, and No. 7 Texas A&M had to withstand every bump, bruise and scratch to stay unbeaten.
Danielle Adams scored eight of her 15 points over the final 3:18 and the Aggies rallied late for a hard-fought 68-61 victory over No. 19 California on Sunday in the Colliers International Classic final.
Adams made 6 of her 7 free throw attempts in the waning minutes and Tanisha Smith hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:36 to play for the Aggies (6-0), who overcame a 17-3 second-half run by the Golden Bears (4-3) and a 49-34 rebounding deficit. Adaora Elonu scored 16 points, Smith finished with 14 and Colson had 13 and six assists.
DeNesha Stallworth scored 19 points to go with nine rebounds, two steals and two blocks and Alexis Gray-Lawson added 18 points and four assists but shot 6 for 25 for Cal.
The Bears trailed 44-35 early in the second half before their big run gave them a 52-47 lead, but they missed too many opportunities down the stretch and committed 21 turnovers.
Cal outscrapped and outhustled Texas A&M for much of the game, but still lost another tough one to a ranked opponent. The Bears lost 69-49 at home to No. 8 Baylor on Nov. 22, then at third-ranked Ohio State 83-71 on Nov. 29.
Boyle, in her fifth season, will have to wait at least another game to get her 100th victory at the school. She will become only the second women's basketball coach to reach that mark at Cal along with Gooch Foster (279).
It was the second-straight game the Aggies needed a late charge to win after they beat Southern Illinois 72-58 on Saturday at Cal's Haas Pavilion.
Texas A&M came in as the fifth-highest scoring team in the country but shot only 36.1 percent Sunday and went 6 of 17 from 3-point range. The Aggies did make 18 of their 23 free throws.
After Saturday's win, Blair called for more from Adams. She delivered when it counted in this one.
Elonu scored four straight points to get Texas A&M within 52-51 with 3:58 to play and Adams' two free throws at the 3:18 mark gave her team the lead.
The Aggies get to go home to finish a tough stretch in which they are playing four games in seven days. Texas A&M has a home date with North Texas on Tuesday.
Texas A&M committed only seven turnovers, including just one in the first half when the Aggies shot 46.9 percent despite a couple of cold stretches.
Gray-Lawson matched Cal's career 3-point mark with 159, which she shares with Jennifer Self (1989-92).
Cal crashed the boards to create second-chance opportunities in the first half, but was just 6 of 13 from the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes and 12 of 24 overall.
The Aggies missed five of their first six 3-point tries before making four of their next six on the way to a 36-29 halftime lead.
A&M will have a quick turnaround with a Tuesday, Dec. 8 home tilt against North Texas (3-6) at 7 p.m. (CT) at Reed Arena. Tickets can be purchased online at: www.12thManFoundation.com/tickets, in person at the 12th Man Foundation Ticket Office and Reed Arena Box Office or by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the first this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Tanisha Smith, Damitria Buchanan (1-0).
• Tanisha Smith was named the tournament MVP, while Danielle Adams was selected to the all-tournament team. Smith averaged 17.0 points over the course of the two tournament games versus Southern Illinois and host Cal.
• With the victory, the Aggies picked up their second win of the season versus a top 25 ranked opponent. They also evened the all-time series to 1-1 versus California. Both teams last met in 1982.
• The win also marked only the third time A&M has beaten two-or-more top 25 opponents in non-conference play in school history. Of the three all-time occasions, it is the earliest in a season for the Aggies to claim two top 25 wins - a three-week span to be exact since beating No. 6 Duke on Nov. 15. The other two times have been in a span of a month. The Aggies defeated No. 16 Duke and No. 20 Mississippi during the 1995-96 season and No. 23 Pittsburgh, No. 24 TCU and No. 25 New Mexico during the 2008-09 season.
• A&M improved to an undefeated 6-0 this season which ties for the second-best start in school history next to a 6-0 start to the 2006-07 season. The Aggies went a program-best 12-0 to start off the 2008-09 season.
• Sydney Carter made only her second career start next to her first against No. 24 Oklahoma State on Jan. 24, 2009. She brought down a career-high eight rebounds and a career-high tying two blocks versus Cal.
• The Aggies went without a turnover for the first 15 minutes of the first half of play against Cal. A&M had only one turnover in the first half versus the Golden Bears which matched one turnover in the second half of play at Kansas State a year ago where they had a season-low seven miscues on March 1, 2009. For the game, A&M made a season-low seven turnovers against Cal.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game ...
"Folks that was an NCAA playoff game. You had two good teams who are trying to find each other right now. I thought the key point in the ballgame was that we didn't finish them off when we had the chance to early in the second half, when we had five missed layups. That's just jitters with young kids who haven't been in that situation before. We had a chance to stretch it. California made a 16-point swing with 11 to go and up by five. I had some kids make good decisions down the stretch. Our guard play was outstanding the whole ballgame, especially when you can go on the road against all of their presses and only have seven turnovers with one in the first half. Our goal in the game was to make (Alexis) Gray-Lawson shoot under 33 percent and she shot 24 percent, because (Sydney) Carter was on her. She made her first start of the season today and is our best defensive player, but comes off the bench. She'll go back to that role in the next game. I'm proud of this basketball team. Remember, the AP didn't have us in the top 25 to start the season. Sometimes they overlook teams and what they have accomplished over the last four years. We had some good kids coming back, but we graduated some great ones like Cal did. Sometimes teams like Cal and ourselves are not given that free pass, because we are not household names yet. I think (Cal head coach) Joanne (Boyle) and I are getting our programs to that stature."
Texas A&M Junior Point Guard Sydney Colson
On being outhustled by Cal in the second half ...
"We definitely weren't going to the boards very hard. Their freshmen might not have a lot of experience, but they came out with a lot of tenacity and intensity. We weren't matching that in the span when we went down. I think it was really crucial for us to come together. When we lost the lead, it was because we weren't D'ing up. We did a good job in the last four minutes of game. People were getting fouled and Danielle Adams hit some crucial free throws. We all just got focused. With a veteran team, it helped to be so experienced to go out there and get the W."
Texas A&M Sophomore Guard Sydney Carter
On being able to knock down perimeter shots in the game ...
"It was huge. We started off with the lead. We kind of slowed everything down and they started picking everything up. It was really crucial for us to get back into the game and not get down. When they had that lead, we all had to come together and play as a team. It was really crucial for us to do that, because road wins are always important and winning against a top 20 team is even better for our program."
California Head Coach Joanne Boyle
On the final stretch of the game ...
"It was a really hard-fought game. It came down to free throws which really cost us the game. If we make our free throws and we have some high turnovers, maybe it doesn't happen to us. It's just frustrating. We had control and we didn't take care of business. You have to make free throws in your own gym."
