Texas A&M
18-4, 6-3
Nebraska
10-12, 1-8
No. 4 Aggies Use Balanced Scoring Attack In 86-43 Rout Of Nebraska
Feb 08, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2009
Post Game Audio [mp3]:
Head Coach Blair
Players Smith, Carter, and Starks
Nebraska Head Coach Connie Yori
Nebraska Box Score in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - No. 4 Texas A&M used a balanced scoring attack in an 86-43 rout of Nebraska Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 4,468 at Reed Arena.
Ten players contributed to the scoring column in A&M's largest margin of victory (+43) against a Big 12 Conference opponent in school history. It also marked Nebraska's lowest-scoring production of the season and its fewest points ever scored in the 20-game series between the two league rivals.
Senior All-America candidate Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) and freshman back-up point guard Tanisha Smith (Kansas City, Mo.) added 11.
The Aggies (18-4, 6-3) sought revenge after committing an uncharacteristic 30 turnovers in a 73-60 loss in Lincoln a year ago on Jan. 23, 2008. This time around, the A&M defense forced the Cornhuskers (10-12, 1-8) to a season-high 28 turnovers, behind 13 steals in the game courtesy of a career-high five from sophomore point guard Sydney Colson (Houston, Texas) within 12 minutes of play in the first half.
Nebraska opened up the game on a quick 4-0 run, but A&M countered by scoring the next 14-of-18 combined points by both teams. The Aggies took their first lead of the game as senior All-America candidate Danielle Gant (Oklahoma City, Okla.) converted a fast break layup off of a turnover by Cory Montgomery with 13:53 left in the half, 8-6. A&M never looked back.
The Aggies shot a season-high 61.0 percent knocking down 36-of-59 attempts from the floor and held the Huskers to a season-low 28.3 percent (13-46). It marked the first time A&M has shot better than 60 percent since a 63.8 shooting percentage against McNeese State on Nov. 21, 2006 and only the second time in the new millennium.
Gant and Colson each had nine in the winning cause, while A&M's bench was responsible for 47 of the team's second-largest offensive output of the season with 86 for the game. Meanwhile, Nebraska was paced by leading scorer Montgomery with 15 points and six rebounds. The Huskers remain winless on the road in league play.
Up next, A&M travels to Texas Tech (13-9, 3-5) for a midweek Big 12 shootout on Wednesday, Feb. 11 in Lubbock, Texas. Tipoff between the Aggies and the Lady Raiders is set for 7 p.m. (CT) at United Spirit Arena.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the 12th time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Takia Starks, Takia Starks continues on her double-digit scoring streak through the Big 12 Conference slate hitting double-digits against nine-straight league opponents. Starks hit 6-of-11 shots from the field for a team-high tying 13 points versus Nebraska.
• With the victory, A&M improves to 9-1 this season at home. The Aggies shot a whopping 61.0 percent from the floor (36-of-59) to mark its highest-shooting percentage of the season. It marked the first time shoot better than 60 percent from the field since a 63.8 percent outing against McNeese State on Nov. 21, 2006. A&M has never shot better than 60 percent in any league game according to year-by-year records that are available since the 1999-2000 season.
• A&M also registered its most points scored against a league foe this season with 86 total points and its 40 first-half points were also a season-best in Big 12 play. The Aggies' 43-point margin of victory ranks among the top 25 in school history and its largest win ever against a league opponent since the Big 12's inception in 1996-97. The previous high was a 27-point margin of victory over Kansas State (66-39) on Jan. 11, 2006.
• Tanisha Smith reached double figures for the eighth time this season with 11 points versus Nebraska. She also blocked a career-high tying two shots for the game.
• Morenike Atunrase ('08), Francey Beall ('81), Amanda Blankenstein ('04), Donyale Canada ('94), Karen (Muskiet) Crain ('78), Trigg Crawford ('81), Lori Dillard ('90), Sherri Dillard ('92), DeAnna Doles ('05), Janet Duckham ('85), Jenni Edgar ('85), Vanessa Edwards ('92), current WNBA Sacramento Monarchs player A'Quonesia Franklin ('08), Prissy (Sharpe) Fricke ('00), Sally Galbraith ('77), Mindy Garrison ('05), Cindy Gough ('79), Wendy (Jennings) Hines ('91), Jennifer (Fasnacht) Hull ('92), Laura (Walker) Joiner ('84), current WNBA Indiana Fever Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Kelly Krauskopf ('83), Lisa Langston ('86), Donna (Roper) Limbrick ('89), Diane (Quitta) Lueckemeyer ('76), Louise Madison ('90), Karol (Decuir) Maroney ('93), Beth (Burket) McIntyre ('94), Kelly Meyers ('03), Martha (McClelland) Murphy ('96), Jen Nixon ('77), Denise (Bettis) Patton ('78), Katy Pounds ('08), Patrice Reado ('08), Nikki (Littles) Robinson ('94), LaToya Rose ('02), Karey (Janak) Satksy ('92), Cathy (Fuller) Sefcik ('81), Susan Smith ('91), Traci Thomas ('89), Pat (Bond) Werner ('80), Shanae (Ford) Wilbert ('94) and Amy Yates ('99).
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game ...
"The key to us we were so scared of (Yvonne) Turner, because she leads the league in steals. We did a good job to stay away from her. Anytime Turner or (Dominique) Kelley brought the ball down, we were trying to bring it down to whichever person those two were not guarding. Our point guards did a good job of not being stripped. At least we didn't turn it over and we were able to go coast-to-coast. Our balance in our post position was very good. We felt like we could get anything we wanted in the post if we could get it there. They have depth problems, because they have two good post players sitting there in street clothes. I liked how (Kelsey) Assarian and (Damitria) Buchanan played. Adaora (Elonu) and (La Toya) Micheaux were good at times. We had good balance. That's what we will have to have the rest of the year. We can't always just depend on the jump shot or the three-pointer. In this ballgame, we didn't need to shoot a lot of threes. Our goal was to start the game by sending four to the boards on offense. `Let's try to rebound the miss and try to get that second shot.' I'm proud of my team and we were able to play well in front of the former players in attendance (for reunion weekend)."
On the Nebraska game being the most complete game of the season for the Aggies ...
"Nebraska has a lot of injury problems this year and has been to the NCAA Tournament over the last couple of years. I don't want to take credit for having the best complete game today. The ball was just going in and our shot selection was good. They had 28 turnovers and we only turned it over 13. That's how we win ballgames. Our bench really helped us. Our kids like each other very much and they really applaud each other when they are out there on the court."
On having Sydney Carter as an option to back-up Sydney Colson ...
"It's sort of like having (Texas A&M quarterbacks) Stephen McGee and Jerrod Johnson. You can't do it with only one. The injury factor is huge in the women's game with the ACL. Nebraska has already had two this year. Carter is getting better. She is always better in the second half, when she is in front of me and I can have her ear. We were good in transition today. That three-point play that she made was very important. She has probably been our most consistent freshman this entire year."
Texas A&M Senior Guard Takia Starks
On getting the win after a tough road loss at Iowa State last week ...
"We needed this game really bad. The Iowa State game kind of allowed people to second guess us. We came back to the practice court, which we always do, and got back to what we know. Today, we showed everyone a different team which is what we are really about. We look forward to keeping it up."
Texas A&M Junior Guard/Forward Tanisha Smith
On what changed in the first half after Nebraska got out to a quick run ...
"Our defense. We weren't denying the ball in the first four minutes. We were basically letting them do what they wanted in there. They penetrated and gave it to No. 40 (Cory Montgomery). Coach (Vic) Schaefer gave us a great speech during the timeout about our defense. He was telling us to deny the ball and don't let them penetrate. We picked up our defense and kept up our intensity from there on."
Texas A&M Freshman Point Guard Sydney Carter
On her effort in the game on the defensive end ...
"In practice, Coach (Vic) Schaefer really stresses to me about bringing in a different kind of energy to the game. That's my role. Besides delivering the ball, I try to come in and give a different look on defense as well as offense."
Nebraska Head Coach Connie Yori
On the game ...
"A&M played great. We are embarrassed. We played horrible and I was very disappointed in our effort to handle pressure. It was clearly our worst game of the year. That's a lot about A&M. They turn up the pressure. After watching their Iowa State game, my guess is that they weren't real happy with the way they played defensively. They really turned it up today. We just didn't handle their pressure very well."
On the team's early first-half opportunities ...
"We had our opportunities. We were in a pretty good position with (Danielle) Gant and (Takia) Starks in foul trouble. We just couldn't get anything going offensively and that's a credit to A&M's defense. We are not a very good offensive team with what we have dealt with this year (with season-ending injuries to three key players on the team). We are pretty limited in what we can do. I thought we would get better guard play than what we did today. We had our chances in the first half with the foul trouble that they had. Their bench played really well. They were able to get production out of their bench and we got nothing out of our bench."
