Texas A&M
25-7, 11-5
Baylor
27-5, 12-4
No. 9 Aggies Fall To Lady Bears In Big 12 Title Game
Mar 15, 2009 | Women's Basketball
March 15, 2009
Box Score In PDF Format 
| Box Score
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - No. 9 Texas A&M lost a 72-63 decision to No. 7 Baylor in the finals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship held Sunday afternoon at the Cox Convention Center.
In their second-straight appearance in the title game, the defending tournament-champion and fourth-seeded Aggies (25-7) were called for 21 fouls in which the second-seeded Lady Bears (27-5) converted 21-of-32 attempts from the charity stripe. A&M led by as many as 10 with 11:35 to go in the first half on a 17-7 run sparked by six points from senior All-America candidate Danielle Gant (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and five points from Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Tanisha Smith (Kansas City, Mo.) in the early going.
Morghan Medlock came off the bench and scored 11-straight points thereafter to regain the lead for the Lady Bears, 22-19, with under six minutes to go in the half. Medlock would go on to score 15 for the game in which BU's bench contributed 24 points to the total tally in comparison to A&M's two from redshirt freshman Tyra White (Kansas City, Mo.) in the second half of play.
Baylor took a 33-25 advantage into halftime. In the second half, the Aggies started to chip away at BU's lead and shot an improved 62.5 percent from the floor (15-of-24). Senior All-America candidate Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) knocked down a three-pointer to rally a comeback at the on set, but A&M was only able to get within two, 60-58, on a jumper by Starks with 4:45 left on the clock. Seven second-half turnovers by the Aggies led to 10 points by the Lady Bears who sealed the victory on a three-pointer by Jhasmin Player to stretch the lead out to eight, 68-60, with under three minutes to go in regulation.
Player recorded a game-high 25 points with eight rebounds, while Jessica Morrow added 10 and was named Most Outstanding Player. Gant and Smith were named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team along with Player, Medlock and Oklahoma's Courtney Paris. Gant registered 14 points and Smith added 18 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies.
A&M awaits its postseason fate as the 2009 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship field of 64 will be announced on Selection Monday, March 16 at 6 p.m. (CT) on ESPN.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the 15th time this season, Texas A&M used the starting five of Danielle Gant and La Toya Micheaux (11-4).
• The Aggies reached the championship game for only the second time in school history (1-1) next to last year's historic 3-0 run which included a 64-59 victory over third-seeded Oklahoma State to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and the program's first-ever Big 12 postseason championship title.
• Takia Starks turned in her 25th overall 20-point game of her career with a team-high 22 points against the Lady Bears. She has recorded double figures in 27-of-32 games played this season. Starks is now 17 points shy of breaking former All-American Lisa Branch's all-time scoring record (1,939) with 1,923 points to date.
• Tanisha Smith reached double figures for the third time of her career when facing Baylor. She was one point shy of tying her career-high 19 points versus the Lady Bears on Jan. 21. Smith also turned in 14 points at BU on March 7 in both team's regular-season finale.
• Danielle Gant became the third player in school history to reach 900 career rebounds with four against the Lady Bears. She has now brought down 903 boards to date which ranks third all-time in school history. Gant joins the ranks of former players Prissy Sharpe (920) and Lisa Jordon (911). She is 18 boards away from becoming the school's all-time leading rebounder.
• Gant and Smith join only a select few A&M players to be named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team next to former player A'Quonesia Franklin and Takia Starks (MOP) in 2008.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game ...
"It was a great game for TV. We had things going our way early, when they were in man-to-man. They couldn't guard us man-to-man or in transition and the game was getting fast. Kim (Mulkey) did a good job of adjusting to the zone and to rest her players that were playing as many minutes as they've had to. They were spreading us wide on the zone with the 2-3 and taking things away. We were not coming off of the screens. But at the end of the possession, we had great shots in the first half. When you have great shots in the first half, you have to trust your kids. But, when you're not on, you have to at least make a better percentage of the shots than we did. In the second half, we attacked the zone pretty well, but we couldn't get them. There are not too many times we've gone into a ballgame and said, `they're just going to execute us to death' and they did. Everything was on the pick-and-roll, the drive and the pitch and kick. Give them a lot of credit. They made some plays. I thought the key play of the ballgame was when it was a three-or four-point game and we started our rally. The shot clock is going down and we fouled over there in the corner on a three-point attempt. I thought that gave them momentum. Then we came right back down, fouled another shooter and came back down and fouled another shooter. We're supposed to contest shooters, not try to block jump shooters. We learned our lesson. Kudos to Baylor. They are a very, very deserving Big 12 champion that deserves the high seed that this league can possibly give them. If it is a one, give it to them for heart. Give us the high seed, we'll take whatever you give us, whether it is a two seed or a three seed, because this team is going to dance a long way in the NCAA Tournament. Right now, let Baylor enjoy the nets. They've earned everything that they deserve. They play together as a team, but so does this team right here."
Texas A&M Senior Guard/Forward Danielle Gant
On the loss in her hometown of Oklahoma City ...
"Yeah, it is a little disappointing losing here in my hometown knowing that this may be my last game here. But, I think we put a good effort into this whole tournament, so I'm not too disappointed. I'm just happy we had the opportunity to get to play and make it to the final two."
Texas A&M Senior Guard Takia Starks
On how the team rebounds from the loss in the championship game ...
"It was a feat for us just making it back to the championship game for the second year in a row. We are going to use this as a learning experience and go back and watch film. We still have the NCAA Tournament ahead. Whatever seed we get, we are going to be happy with. We will move forward."
