Texas A&M
19-6, 7-5
Texas
19-7, 8-4
No. 15 Aggies Claim Series Sweep Of Rival Texas, 58-44
Feb 20, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2010
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Tanisha Smith added 13 to lead No. 15 Texas A&M to a 58-44 win over No. 12 Texas in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown between the two in-state rivals on Saturday at Reed Arena.
The victory was the third straight for Texas A&M (19-6, 7-5) and snapped a six-game winning streak for the Longhorns (19-7, 8-4).
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Tanisha Smith & Gail Goestenkors, Brittainey Raven, & |
The Aggies were up by three before outscoring Texas 10-1 to push the lead to 53-41 with about 1 minute remaining. Texas A&M led 49-41 before scoring four quick points helped by a steal by Danielle Adams to put the game out of reach.
Brittainey Raven had 17 points before fouling out with 42 seconds left to lead Texas.
There was a long break in action with about four minutes to play while officials decided there was an error in the foul count for Texas A&M. The Longhorns shot and made two free throws when the Aggies had just six fouls. The points were taken away, leaving the score at 47-40, and the Aggies team fouls were reduced from seven to six after the discussion.
The win gives the Aggies a season sweep of the Longhorns after a 91-70 win in Austin and is Texas A&M's seventh win in a row against Texas.
Raven was the only Longhorn that scored in double figures, but Ashley Gayle had 10 rebounds and four blocks.
Texas A&M trailed by five before going on a 12-2 run, powered by five points from Carter, to take a 38-33 lead with about 10 minutes remaining. The Aggies got four steals during that run, thanks to their effective use of a full-court press.
Texas went on a 10-2 run to open the second half and erase a three-point deficit, taking a 31-26 lead with under 14 minutes remaining. Texas A&M struggled to find an offensive rhythm in that span, at one point getting two straight shot clock violations followed by a missed layup.
Tyra White added 11 points for A&M, and Adams had six points, four steals and three blocks.
The Longhorns scored the first eight points of the game and took advantage of Texas A&M's poor early shooting to build a 15-4 lead by the 12-minute mark. The Aggies finally got going after that, breaking off a 16-4 run capped by a block and layup on the other end by Adams to take their first lead--20-19-- about two minutes before halftime.
Texas A&M was up 24-21 at the break.
The Aggies will have a quick two-day turnaround between games as they get ready to play host to No. 18/19 Baylor on Monday, Feb. 22 at Reed Arena. The Big Monday women's game will be televised live nationally on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. (CT).
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the second time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Tanisha Smith, Damitria Buchanan (2-0).
• With the victory, A&M won its seventh-straight in the all-time series versus rival Texas. It marked the program's fourth-ever series sweep of the Longhorns next to the 2005-06, 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. The Aggies also snapped Texas' six-game winning streak dating back to a 95-90 double overtime win at Texas Tech on Jan. 16.
• The Aggies drew the seventh-largest crowd in school history with 7,713 fans in attendance at Reed Arena. It was the second-largest State Farm Lone Star Showdown crowd versus Texas at home next to its fourth-largest crowd of 7,478 fans that witnessed A&M clinch its first Big 12 Conference regular-season title on Feb. 28, 2007.
• Sydney Carter scored a career-best 14 points in four career meetings with Texas in Big 12 Conference play. She also reached double figures for the second time this season against the Longhorns with 12 points in Austin on Jan. 9. Carter has now led the team in scoring on two occasions this year, including in two of the team's last three outings, with a career-high 24 points against Kansas State on Feb. 13.
• Sydney Colson entered the contest after having missed the last three-straight games in Big 12 Conference play healing from a stress reaction to her left fibula and scored on a layup at the 6:25 minute mark of the first half. It was her first bucket since a first-half three-pointer (12:49 minute mark) at Nebraska on Feb. 6. Colson has missed four ballgames this season due to her stress reaction.
• Damitria Buchanan had one blocked shot in the game to tie her for seventh all-time in the A&M record books (82) with former A&M great Jaynetta Saunders (1999-01).
• The A&M defense has now held Texas to two of its lowest scoring first halves of the season with a season-low 19 first-half points in both team's Big 12 opener on Jan. 9 in Austin and 21 first-half points on Feb. 20 in College Station. Texas' 44 total points in the ballgame was its fewest of the season. The Longhorns came into the contest averaging a league-best 77.1 points per game.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game and the officials' review and correction of fouls ...
"When we played at Austin, it was a great offensive shootout. When we played here, it was a great defensive game by both teams. Sometimes, particularly in the women's game, it might not be as fluid as a guys' game sometimes. You have to live and die with us on every turnover, every rebound and every shot. It was tough getting inside on either team. Cokie Reed and Ashley Gayle were doing a tremendous job for Texas and Damitria Buchanan and Adaora Elonu where doing the same for us. Was there a turning point in the game? The official's thing had nothing to do with the turning point of the game. We were playing well during that time and we had built it up to a five-point game. I hated it for (official scorer) Billy (Hodge). It's the first time he's made a mistake like that. I feel sorry for Texas, because it happened to me at Baylor with a scorebook error and it cost me two technical free throws earlier in the season. I know how you feel, if you are the opposing coach. But, sometimes there are human errors that are made. As the rule book says, if a second possession has not been completed, you go back and can reverse the points and take the points out. I wasn't asking for anything. I just wanted the ball. That was the first time for me in 30 years having been on the positive side of a situation like that. It's an unfortunate thing to happen."
On both teams defensive efforts and the difference in the ballgame ...
"It was a great ballgame. It was a hard game to play, to coach and to officiate. Before all of us start jumping on the officials, let's first give credit to the defenses on both teams. It was outstanding. They shut my Kansas City players down to 3-of-16 (Adams), 4-of-12 (White) and 5-of-15 (Tanisha Smith). That was good defense and sometimes missing wide-open shots. But, I love my team. Sydney Colson came in and gave us a great spark. That was about all of the minutes I could get out of her was 12 minutes. She hadn't practiced in two weeks. She was able to give me the minutes that I had to have, particularly when Tyra (White) was struggling out there. I don't know if she will have enough for Baylor or not. The two Sydneys were the difference in the ballgame for us. Always look at the assist-to-turnover ratio. We only turned it over 11 times against that pressure. We missed a lot of shots, but we did a good job of not making a turnover lead to a wide-open basket for them."
On Sydney Carter ...
"If anybody that needed to go into boxing, it would be her. Her feet are so good. I would match her up against Muhammad Ali's daughter (Laila Ali). This kid is such a great athlete. Her drive and her heart are so good. That's what makes a great point guard sometimes. Yes, she's missed a couple of layups. She's done that all year, but she's creating layups and creating opportunities. She's our best defensive player. You always find room for defense and somebody who has a heart like she has."
Texas A&M Sophomore Point Guard Sydney Carter
On why the team won the ballgame after being down early in the first half ...
"It's just the matter of us finally waking up and realizing that it's getting near the end. It's crunch time right now. If we want to get ready for the NCAA Tournament and the Big 12 Tournament, then we just need to get it together now and not wait until it's too late. I definitely think we are clicking together now and playing as a team. Even though we were down, we were not letting ourselves get down and kept playing."
Texas A&M Senior Forward/Guard Tanisha Smith
On getting a win against Texas and the rivalry ...
"It's a really big win. I came in here two years ago and didn't really know about the Texas and Texas A&M rivalry. Over the years, I have learned a lot. I'm just proud to be an Aggie."
Texas Head Coach Gail Goestenkors
On the game ...
"A&M did a great job. I give them a lot of credit. I thought they played a tremendous game and we came out early and did some good things. They did a better job with their press and pressure and got us back on our heels. It wasn't anything, except that they were physically tough and played great defense. That was the most frustrating part of the game (turnovers). We've been a much better ball handling team than that and we didn't do it today. A great team like A&M, if you give them easy opportunities, they are going to make you pay for it."
On the delay of game with the fouls and two points being taken away ...
"The scorebook originally said that we should've been in the bonus. They said they made a mistake, so the officials were reviewing how much time had passed since the mistake was made. There is a certain amount of time and I think it is correctable if it's within the second deadball. They (the officials) were going back and looking on the monitor to see how much time passed. The problem for me was that we lost two points and we also didn't get possession of the ball. We got fouled and they took two points away."
Texas Senior Guard Brittainey Raven
On the game ...
"The whole time we kept saying, `we're down five, we're down five' and `we need to just get stops and execute.' They come and tell us that they are taking two points off. They get the ball and we have to get a stop. It was a lot more pressure put on us than we were expecting."
On the team's turnovers against the Aggies ...
"We started off both halves great. In the first half, our half-court defense was really good. They only time they scored were off turnovers and that kept them in the game. Throughout the game, our turnovers in key positions really hurt us and it paid off for them."
Texas Sophomore Point Guard Ashleigh Fontenette
On the team's turnovers in the ballgame having contributed to the loss ...
"I think so, because we were in the game, even though we had 22 turnovers. If you take those turnovers away and cut those points in half - their fast break points they got off turnovers - easily the game is different."
