Texas A&M
8-1
TCU
5-5
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| TCU | 35 | 31 | 66 |
| Texas A&M | 46 | 45 | 91 |
No. 7 Texas A&M Rolls to Easy 91-66 Victory Over TCU
Dec 12, 2010 | Women's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Texas A&M's Danielle Adams sat out of last year's two-point loss to TCU with a concussion.
Aggies' coach Gary Blair told her before Sunday's game against the Horned Frogs that she owed him one for missing that game.
She scored a career-high 33 points and leading No. 7 Texas A&M to a 91-66 victory over TCU on Sunday.
"I told him ... that was his payback game from last year," Adams said.
It was the 18th straight double-figures scoring game for Adams and she had seven rebounds for the Aggies, who picked up their second win since a 61-58 loss to No. 5 Duke on Monday.
"She's special. We better enjoy her while we can," Blair said of the senior. "She's got more confidence this year on her shot, anywhere, anytime she just feels like she's open."
The Aggies trailed in the first three minutes of the game before taking a big lead and didn't let TCU get closer than nine points in the second half.
Texas A&M (8-1) was ahead by 11 points with about 15 minutes remaining before using a 12-5 run over the next four minutes, that included 3s by Sydney Colson and Adams, to extend its lead to 68-50.
Helena Sverrisdottir had 23 points for the Horned Frogs (5-5) and Emily Carter added 19.
The Aggies scored 25 points off 19 TCU turnovers and outscored the Horned Frogs 36-10 in the paint.
Colson had 10 points and tied a career-high with 11 assists, while Sydney Carter added 15 points and Tyra White had 13.
"Colson was such a key to this game because she really delivered the ball where it needed to be," TCU coach Jeff Mittie said.
Blair agreed and raved about Colson's performance.
"She's going to jam it down your throat while you're getting back and feeling good about yourself on defense after you've scored," Blair said. "She's just doing a good job right now."
The 33 points by Adams were the fourth-most in A&M history and the most since 2001. She was playing with a sprained thumb and a stuffy nose, but said she feels better than ever because she's the slimmest she's ever been.
"I feel good going up and down the court. I want to get lower, as low as I can," she said of her weight.
Texas A&M was up by 19 points late in the second half before Adams had a 3-pointer followed by a layup to make it 87-63 with about three minutes left. She went to the bench to a standing ovation after her last layup.
TCU cut the lead to nine points early in the second half before Adams scored six straight points to make it 54-39 with about 17 minutes remaining.
Texas A&M had pushed its lead to 18 points about five minutes before halftime before TCU used a 16-6 run capped by a 3-pointer by Sverrisdottir to get within 43-35. White hit a 3-pointer for A&M at the end of the first half to put A&M ahead 46-35.
Mittie got a technical foul with about 12 minutes remaining in the first half for yelling at the officials after a 3-second call on his team.
"I thought the key to the early part of the game is that we didn't come with any physicality at all," Mittie said.
It was Texas A&M's last game before the Aggies take a week off for final exams then travel to New York to face Rutgers in the Maggie Dixon Classic next Sunday.
POSTGAME NOTES
- For the first time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Colson, Maryann Baker, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Danielle Adams.
- With the win, the Aggies improved to 30-4 in the all-time series against TCU. A&M is undefeated against the Horned Frogs at home with a 17-0 record.
- The Aggies have now won 42 straight non-conference home games, dating back to a 40-46 loss to Houston on 12/30/03. In addition, A&M has won 74 of its last 81 home games.
- A&M grabbed a season-best 16 offensive rebounds in the first half against the Horned Frogs. In fact, it marks the most first-half offensive rebounds since Jan. 4, 2010, when the Aggies pulled down 18 against Lamar.
- For the seventh time this season, A&M out-rebounded its opponent. The Aggies held a 38-24 advantage on the boards, including a 20-5 edge in offensive rebounds.
- A&M committed a season-low eight turnovers against TCU which was the least amount of turnovers in a game since Dec. 6, 2009 when the Aggies had just seven turnovers at California.
- With a season-high 25 assists, the Aggies have had 20 or more assists in back-to-back games. They tallied 20 or more assists three times this season, with the other being against UALR on Nov. 16.
- After TCU shot an outstanding 87.5 3-point field goal percentage in the first half, A&M limited the Frogs to just 25 percent in the second half and a 31.6 overall field goal percentage in the half.
- Danielle Adams' career-high 33 points was the fourth-most points scored by an individual all-time in program history. It marked the most points scored by an Aggie since the 2001 season when Jaynetta Saunders scored 34 points twice.
- Sydney Colson finished with a double-double, matched her career high with 11 assists and added five steals (one away from her career best). It was her first double-double of the season and third of her career. Her last double-double was on Nov. 15, 2009 when she registered 17 points and 10 assists against Duke.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gary Blair:
On the game...
"I thought we played very well and the game played out a little bit like I expected it. They (TCU) were so conscious of not turning the ball over. The only trouble was we forced eight turnovers early, in the first five minutes, and then we only forced them to turn the ball over 11 times after that. They did a better job of handling the ball and they executed their sets. (Emily) Carter is one of the most improved players from a freshman to a senior that I've seen from the state of Texas.
When you play each other every year, you scout each other very well. They knew what was going to work. What they didn't have was a penetrating-type of guard. We made some adjustments at the half. They hit their first couple shots, but then only shot 31 percent in the second half. If you're living and dying on the outside game, you're going to run out of gas, particularly when you have to defend us. We wore them down by the tempo and style of game we were playing.
We also did a good job on the boards. If you reach your goals for the game, you're going to win 99 out of 100 times."
On Danielle Adams and Sydney Colson...
"Danielle was Danielle. She just has the ability to score. She understands matchups really well and she's coming into her own. She's just a good player. She's special and you'd better enjoy her while you can. Once we start going to the hard defensive teams, like a Duke or Rutgers, they'll squeeze her and she'll have to be able to go inside and outside. Rutgers will be the best defensive team we've played this year. I've got a lot of scoring options out there right now and the players share the ball well and enjoy it. It always starts with Colson. She's going to jam it down your throat on defense after you score. She's doing a good job right now. She's learning how to read the offense. I just want her to learn how to stay out of foul trouble."
SENIOR FORWARD/CENTER Danielle Adams
On what was working individually and as a team against TCU...
"We just ran our offense to perfection. I tried to shoot a couple outside shots and I did my thing inside. I enjoy shooting the outside shot. I've been working on it since I was little. Most people wouldn't think I can shoot it, but now they know. It's also the best I've felt since I've been here. I feel lighter and can get up and down the court easier. It's the lowest (weight) that I've been and I want to get lower, as low as I can."
On how not being able to play against TCU last year affected her game this year...
"I had a concussion last year and I went up there, sat on the bench and watched the game. Today, Coach Blair told me I owed them a game because I didn't play last year. I told him at the end that I had got 'em."
On outrebounding TCU and what was working...
"We just saw that they weren't boxing us out so we tried to get around them and get the offensive rebounds. We would try to get the rebound as fast as we could and then put it back up."
SENIOR GUARD Sydney Colson
On getting the early lead and what was working against TCU...
"I think we got the lead because we were going inside and they were running a zone. It was the same thing they did to us last year. This time we just tried to pound the ball inside. And Danielle (Adams) and Adaora (Elonu) were getting some and-ones. We were just trying to keep milking what was working."
On any half-time adjustments to stop TCU's 3-pointer shooting...
"We started playing better defense and we were communicating better. They had an awesome shooting night and we just didn't cover the people who we knew were shooters. We tried to come back out and limit their 3-point field goals because that's something we take pride in. We just weren't communicating very well. I credit them, they have good shooters and they were knocking down shots when they needed them."
On getting two solid wins after Duke loss...
"We were definitely let down after Duke because we thought there were so many different things we could have done to ensure a win. We definitely felt like we could have beaten them. So we came out a little upset at the next teams we played and tried to execute well, play good defense and get back to doing what we're supposed to do. We're working on rebounding a lot in practice and communicating better."
On Danielle's performance...
"When I saw she was getting a rhythm down well and knocking down shots, I was trying to find her whenever I could and it worked out. I'm proud of her. She's was knocking down some 3s again, trailing in transition, and she's back in that aspect."
TCU HEAD COACH JEFF MITTIE
On if coach was pleased with TCU's performance at the half...
"We were executing some things we wanted to execute, but we felt like we needed to get them spread. We were trying to get them slowed down some. We'd seen how explosive they had been in the previous games and certainly coming off of a game in which they score 100 (points). I was pleased that we had got it back to a reasonable number at half."
On Colson and Adams and the Aggie women's basketball team...
"Unfortunately Colson was the key in the second have, because she pushed the tempo when there seemingly wasn't anywhere to push it. Colson was such a key to this game. She delivered the ball when it needed to be delivered and obviously Adams had a great night. We knew she could shoot it. There's a reason why they're ranked No. 7 and No. 8 in the country, and Adams and Colson played well today."
