Texas A&M
3-0
Liberty
2-3
No. 8 Texas A&M Grabs Win From Liberty, 81-49
Nov 22, 2010 | Women's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -Danielle Adams scored 20 points, Tyra White added 15 and No. 8 Texas A&M cruised to an easy 81-49 win over Liberty on Monday night.
Adams, last season's Big 12 conference newcomer of the year, has scored at least 20 points in all three of Texas A&M's games this season. Monday was the first time this season she didn't also reach double digits in rebounds, finishing with four in 19 minutes.
The Aggies (3-0) never trailed, led by 21 points at halftime and built their lead to 63-32 with 11 minutes remaining when many of Texas A&M's starters left the game. They have won their first three games by an average of more than 39 points.
Liberty (2-3) was led by Tolu Omotola and Dymond Morgan who had 13 points apiece.
It was A&M's last tuneup before traveling to Cancun for a tournament that includes games against Arizona and Michigan.
Liberty had 10 turnovers in the first 10 minutes and finished with 32 to 18 by Texas A&M. The Aggies scored 39 points off Liberty's turnovers.
Texas A&M starting point guard Sydney Colson played for the first time this season after missing the first two games with a foot injury. She entered the game midway through the first half and had two points, two steals and an assist in four minutes
Texas A&M's highly rated recruit 6-foot-5 Karla Gilbert had 10 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes. She didn't start but saw significant action with the first team.
The Aggies scored the game's first nine points and had built a 22-6 lead by the 11 minute mark of the first half when Adams went to the bench. The Flames went on a 9-4 run with Adams out of the game to get within 26-15.
She came back into the game with about seven minutes before halftime and had four points, two rebounds, two steals and two assists to fuel a 14-0 run over the next 4 1/2 minutes to stretch A&M's lead to 40-15.
The Flames scored the last four points of the half to trail 40-19.
Liberty, which made the NCAA tournament last season, had won two straight entering the game and faces No. 2 Baylor on Friday.
POSTGAME NOTES
- For the third straight game, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Carter, Maryann Baker, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Danielle Adams...every Aggie saw action in the contest.
- With the victory, A&M won the first all-time meeting between the two teams.
- The Aggies have now won 39 straight non-conference home games, dating back to a 40-46 loss to Houston on 12/30/03. In addition, A&M has won 71 of its last 78 home games.
- For the first time in program history, A&M has totaled 80 points or more in its first three games of the season.
- The Aggies' high-pressure defense continued to show as A&M forced a season-high 32 turnovers by Liberty including 21 in the first half. In addition, the Aggies forced the Flames to shoot a season-low 28.6 percent in the first half.
- Senior Sydney Colson came off the bench and saw her first action of the season. The Houston, Texas, native scored two points, swiped two steals and contributed an assist in just four minutes of play.
- Senior Danielle Adams' 20 points extended her double-digit scoring streak to 12 games. The Kansas City, Mo., native shot a season-best 70.0 percent from the floor (7-of-10).
- Senior guard Maryann Baker dished out a game- and career-high six assists and matched her career best with a game-high four steals.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gary Blair
On the game...
"Liberty gave us a lot of defensive looks that we needed to work on. They were running a lot of changes in defense, a lot of junk. We executed our offense a lot better against Rice than we did this team. When in doubt, get the ball inside. I thought we did a pretty good job getting the ball inside, even if we didn't know what they were running. Liberty will probably win their league again and be in the NCAA Tournament, just like UALR. They are very well coached. It was a good game to work on."
On Maryann Baker's game...
"If you watched her defense and what she did, she didn't turn the ball over. She was coming off of a bad game at Rice where she was 0-for-7. She came in today and did the little things she had to do to be a role player and be in the starting lineup. I have other kids that can score, but I do not have kids that can make the hustle plays that she can make, besides Carter."
On turning the ball over...
"It was a little bit of a sloppy game because of our 18 turnovers, but this was the best our press has worked all year. Our last two games, our opponents have had small point guards with a lot of speed. This team didn't have the speed at the guard, so our press was very effective. I stayed in it to give us some confidence, not that we needed the steals, but I wanted to take off some of the pressure off of our half-court defense by trying to get some easy baskets."
SENIOR GUARD Sydney Colson
On the game...
"I think we got out and got some steals, forced some turnovers, and then we started making some fouls. We weren't recognizing the switches on defense and our steals weren't converting. We need to work on making better transitions and work on our offense."
SENIOR FORWARD/CENTER Danielle Adams
On the team's overall season progress...
"I think we're good, but we still have things to work on. We did pretty well tonight. Mary did great denying the wings and getting all those steals, and she had six assists. She just did great and played her game."
LIBERTY HEAD COACH CAREY GREEN
Opening statement...
"I'd like to congratulate Texas A&M, they're no doubt a top-10 team. They do a great job on the defensive end, which consequently generates a lot of their offense. They're well coached, very athletic, and they're going to have a successful season."
