Texas A&M
9-1
Rutgers
7-5
No. 8 Aggies Roll Past Rutgers, 79-50
Dec 19, 2010 | Women's Basketball
NEW YORK (AP) - Danielle Adams scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead No. 7 Texas A&M to a 79-50 victory over Rutgers in the Maggie Dixon Classic on Sunday.
The 6-foot-1 senior, who came in averaging almost 22 points and over eight rebounds a game, had 18 points and eight rebounds at the half.
Texas A&M led 38-20 at halftime and was never really challenged.
Sydney Carter added 18 points and Tyra White had 15 of her 17 in the second half for the Aggies (9-1).
Erica Wheeler scored 13 points for Rutgers (7-5) and April Sykes had 10.
Texas A&M, which came in outscoring its opponents by an average of over 25 points, held Rutgers to 26.5 percent shooting and just five first-half field goals.
Rutgers took a 5-4 lead 5 minutes into the game thanks to two jumpers from Nikki Speed.
But, the rest of the team was 0 for 11 from the floor at that point, and that was the Scarlet Knight's only lead.
Speed went to the bench with two early fouls and Texas A&M went on an 11-2 run, capped by a layup and free throw from Adams.
Rutgers was just 5 of 33 from the floor in the half and 13 of 49 for the game. They had 27 turnovers.
The tournament is in its fifth year of honoring Maggie Dixon, the former Army coach who died of a congenital heart ailment in 2006 at the age of 28. Her death came just weeks after leading Army to its first NCAA tournament.
Her brother, Pittsburgh men's coach Jamie Dixon, is amazed by the growth of the event.
"Our goal was to make this the premier women's basketball event, and to bring awareness to the issue of heart health, and by filling up Madison Square Garden, I think we've done that," he said.
A portion of the proceeds from the classic will go to benefit C.A.R.E.—an organization that works to fund research and raise awareness of sudden cardiac death.
POSTGAME NOTES
- For the fourth time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Colson, Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Danielle Adams. The Aggies are 3-1 with this starting lineup.
- The Aggies won the first-ever meeting between to the two teams and improved to 1-0 all-time against Rutgers.
- A&M forced Rutgers to miss their first 11 shots and started 2-of-15 from the floor. In addition, A&M held the Scarlet Knights without a field goal for 9:04 in the first half and just one field goal in final 12:16.
- A&M limited Rutgers to a first-half season-low five field goals, zero 3-pointers, a 15.2 shooting percent from the floor and a 0.0 percent from beyond the arc.
- A&M held Rutgers to a season-low 26.5 percent from the floor and 0.0 percent from beyond the arc.
- The Aggies forced the Scarlet Knights to make a season-high 27 turnovers and converted 38 points off of turnovers, compared to just seven from Rutgers. It marked the most turnovers forced by a team in the history of the Maggie Dixon Classic.
- The Aggies' 13 steals set a Maggie Dixon Classic team record, while A&M's 18 assists matched the record. The previous record was 12 steals by Duke on Dec. 8, 2007.
- Sydney Colson set a Maggie Dixon Classic individual record with nine assists. The previous record was 5 assists on several occasions.
- Danielle Adams posted her fifth double-double of the season and seventh of her career against Rutgers. She extended her double-digit scoring streak to 19 games and has posted 20+ points in the last three consecutive games.
- Sydney Carter scored a season-best 18 points.
- Tyra White tallied 15 of her 17 points in the second half and was a season-best 8-of-11 from the floor, including 1-of-1 from beyond the arc.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gary Blair
On playing at Madison Square Garden...
"[In 1981 with Louisiana Tech at the Garden] We were covered by the fashion editor of two newspapers. This is how far the women's game has come….It's good to see you all here. I love this place. It's a great city. It's a safe city, but it's all about basketball at the highest level. This is the basketball Mecca. Everyone in the world wants to play here. I love everything about The Garden and I'd love to come back."
On playing in the Maggie Dixon Classic...
"We had to lobby for it… I want to play on the biggest stage you can possibly play on. We've been to Cameron [Indoor Stadium] and Madison Square Garden. It's been almost thirty years since I've been back here and I absolutely love this stage. I know Lebron [James] and [Dwyane] Wade were here Friday night, Prince was here last
On Maggie Dixon…
"Maggie Dixon was a special young lady. She was so positive. At only 28 years old we lost a great one there, because she went from DePaul to Army and said, 'Hey, I'm going to coach this team and take them to the NCAA Tournament and be a role model for all the young coaches who are coming up in the game.' And I just appreciate the opportunity [to play in the Classic] and I hope that we're invited back."
On Danielle Adams…
"Danielle Adams is special. I've always said, she's like Charles Barkley with George Foreman's personality.' She's a great kid and a 'share' person, she's not an 'I' person. She could have went for 40 tonight, but in the second half she saw that they were paying more attention to her. She got it to [Sydney] Carter and [Tyra] White, and they played great in the second half. Danielle Adams is definitely one of the top ten players in the country. I just hope people recognize, she's been under the radar since she played in junior college, and last year if we could have gone a little bit further in the [NCAA Tournament] people would have been able to appreciate her a little bit more."
SENIOR FORWARD/CENTER Danielle Adams
On playing at Madison Square Guarden…
"It's just an honor t me to get to be in New York and play at Madison Square Garden for the first time.
On A&M's defensive pressure…
"We gave them good trouble (on defense). That's what we try to play – aggressive defense. Coach Schaefer's motto is to be aggressive and tough on defense. So we try our best to deny the wings and to deny the high post. So the only place they can run their offense is with their point guard and on-ball screens. We just try to be real aggressive."
On if she likes shooting the outside shot…
"I enjoy doing everything. Whatever I can to do to help my team out, I enjoy it."
JUNIOR GUARD Sydney Carter
On A&M's defense…
"We definitely take pride in our defense. Our team is not only an offensive team, but we're built on defense as well. We try to make the other team as uncomfortable as possible. I like to get up and pressure people on the ball. I think our defense really frustrated them, because a team that plays defense doesn't like defense played on them. We did a really good job of containing them."
On forcing 27 turnovers in the game…
"That's just us being aggressive and being hooked up and being in the passing lane and making them catch the ball where they can't really run their offense. We played some team defense today."
