Texas A&M
10-1
Drexel
7-3
No. 7 Aggies Overpower Drexel, 74-45
Dec 29, 2010 | Women's Basketball
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Texas A&M showed no rust after a long layoff.
The No. 7 Aggies, who were off for nine days since last playing, came out strong behind Danielle Adams and a robust defense to roll to a 74-45 win over Drexel on Tuesday night in the Surf 'N Slam tournament.
Texas A&M (10-1), playing its first game since a 79-50 win over Rutgers on Dec. 19, led from the outset. The Aggies used a 16-3 run midway through the first half to take a 25-7 lead with 8:55 left.
Adams scored 16 of her 20 points in the first half and the Aggies' stifling defense held down a good shooting Drexel team.
"It was pretty shocking to me to see what we did against a pretty good shooting team," Adams said. "We were trying to take the offense away and get them out of the flow of the offense."
The Aggies will play host San Diego State (6-5) in Thursday night's championship game. The Aztecs defeated UTSA in the first game, 72-52.
Adams made 9 of 14 shots to lead Texas A&M, which shot 47.7 percent. Adams, who averages 21.9 points, scored in double figures in her 20th consecutive game.
Texas A&M looked solid in every phase of the game as it held a 38-26 rebounding edge, limited the Dragons to 35.6 percent shooting, including a season-low 22.2 percent from 3-point range, and forced Drexel into a season-high 24 turnovers.
Drexel (7-3), which came into the game leading the nation in 3-point shooting at 45.5 percent, made just 4 of 18 from beyond the stripe.
Kamile Nacickaite scored 11 points and Jasmina Rosseel added 10 for Drexel, which trailed 42-22 at halftime.
Nacickaite and Rosseel, Drexel's top two 3-point threats, struggled against the Aggies' defense. Nacickaite, who came in tied for third in the nation in 3-point shooting at 50 percent, made just 2 of 5. Rosseel, second in school history in 3-pointers made, finished just 2 for 10.
"They took us out of our flow," said Drexel coach Denise Dillon. "We're trying to break the habit of missing some shots early and then having the intensity level drop."
Considering the nine-day layoff, Texas A&M coach Gary Blair was especially pleased with his team's effort.
"I thought we did a good job on the half-court defense," he said. "This was a good ball club we played and a well-coached team."
Tyra White scored 14 points for the Aggies and Adaora Elonu finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for her second career double-double.
There was little drama from the beginning as Texas A&M jumped out to a 7-0 lead. After Ayana Lee scored for Drexel, the Aggies went on the 16-3 run that was started with White's 3-pointer and finished with a jumper by Sydney Carter.
"You know that once they set the up-tempo game and creating shots with their defense, it's definitely tough to climb back and get the momentum," Dillon said.
Texas A&M shot 51.5 percent in the first half and forced the Dragons into 11 turnovers in taking a 20-point lead.
POSTGAME NOTES
- For the fifth time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Colson, Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Danielle Adams, while 13 players saw action in the game.The Aggies are 4-1 with this starting lineup.
- The Aggies won the first contest all-time versus Drexel.
- A&M held Drexel to just one offensive rebound in the first half, a season-low mark for its opponents.
- The Aggies dished out 21 assists against the Dragons, to mark their fourth time they have had 20 or more assists this season.
- In addition to holding Drexel to a season-low 22.2 percent from beyond the arc and forcing a season-high 24 turnovers, A&M also held the Dragons to season lows with 45 points, 16 field goals and 26 rebounds. The Aggies limited Drexel to just 14.3 percent from beyond the arc in the second half.
- For the ninth time this season, the Aggies outrebounded their opponent. A&M enjoyed a +12 rebounding margin (38-26) in the game.
- A&M has shot 46.4 percent or higher in its last four consecutive contests.
- For the second straight game, the Aggies outscored their opponent by 29 points.
- Adaora Elonu's second career double-double marked her first this season. Her last double-double was on March 2, 2010 against Oklahoma.
- Tyra White reached double figures for the eighth time this season, while Elonu tallied her sixth double figure performance.
- Kristi Bellock registered a career-high three steals.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gary Blair
On the game...
"We had a pretty good night and did a good job on our half-court defense. A lot of our points were off of transition. We were able to get into the lanes and (Sydney) Colson's strength is playing in transition. She directs traffic pretty well there. Holding them to 22 percent three-point shooting was key and we did a good job defensively on (Jasmina) Rosseel. This was a good team and they are a well-coached team.
"This was a very good game for us because Drexel is very similar to Iowa State, except Iowa State is a lot bigger. We had two good, hard practices here and we wanted to press them to get our players back in shape, since we've been off since the 19th.
"I was also pleased with Karla Gilbert coming off the bench. We need to have her against San Diego State."
On playing San Diego State Thursday...
"San Diego State's strength is in their post players. I think it will be a heck of a ball game on Thursday. They have something we don't have ... they went to the Sweet 16 and did a great job beating Texas (in the NCAA Tournament). I want to teach our team to win on the road. This will be our first true road game since we played Duke."
SENIOR FORWARD/CENTER Danielle Adams
On being worried about the rust after being off for nine days...
"Yes, we were worried about that a bit, the conditioning and getting back into the flow of the game and playing 40 minutes at a fast pace. Some of us worked out over the break and got some shots up and everything, and it was kind of shocking to me to see what we did tonight against a pretty well-shooting team."
On A&M's defense tonight and what was working...
"We tried to take their offense away and get the point guard to dribble, penetrate and kick it out, which she did a lot. We tried to get them out of the flow of their offense and play our solid defense."
