Texas A&M
1-0
Lamar
1-1
No. 6 Aggies Win Season Opener 83-58
Nov 12, 2011 | Women's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS (AP) - Tyra White scored 22 points, Sydney Carter added 14, and Adaora Elonu had 11 points and eight rebounds to lead defending national champion Texas A&M to an opening 83-58 win over Lamar on Saturday night.
White, Carter and Elonu are the three of 10 returning players from last year's 33-5 team that won the program's first NCAA title.
The No. 6 Aggies shot 47.5 percent from the field (29 of 61), outrebounded their smaller opponents 42-35 and generated 34 points off 28 Lamar turnovers.
Kalis Loyd scored 20 to lead the Lady Cardinals (1-1), who shot 35 percent from the field (20 of 57) and went 1-for-9 from 3-point range.
The Aggies led by 24 at halftime and by as many as 30 in the second half. They'll get tougher tests soon enough.
Last year's championship team will get its rings and unveil its banner Tuesday before a nationally televised game against No. 9 Louisville. The nonconference slate also includes road matchups with No. 17 Purdue (Dec. 4) and No. 4 Connecticut (Dec. 6), and a pair of Big 12 showdowns with top-ranked Baylor loom in February.
A&M looked shaky at the outset of its opener, with three turnovers in the first two minutes. Karla Gilbert, a 6-foot-5 sophomore center, scored in the lane and Carter finished a fast break and sank A&M's first 3-pointer of the season to start the decisive 24-2 spurt.
A&M's smothering, full-court defense forced five turnovers in a 4-minute span, and Carter's pull-up jumper put the Aggies up 28-11 midway through the first half.
The margin swelled to 28 points in the final minutes of the half, as the Aggies used their height advantage underneath to dominate the boards and score easy baskets from close range.
The Lady Cardinals finished the half with twice as many turnovers (16) as they had field goals (8). White had 13 points, Carter had 12 and Elonu had seven rebounds at the break for A&M.
A&M led by no fewer than 18 through the first 10 minutes of the second half. Coach Gary Blair started pulling his starters with about five minutes left and his team leading 77-51.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM NOTES
- Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Adrienne Pratcher, Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Kelsey Bone. It marked the first start of Bone's Aggie career, the second career start for Pratcher, 55th for Carter, 72nd for White and 75th for Elonu...every Aggie player
- A&M improved to 19-3 all-time in home openers and has won its last nine consecutive opening day contests at Reed Arena.
- A&M is now 6-0 when starting the season at home in the Gary Blair Era.
- The Aggies extended their all-time series lead to 15-9 against Lamar.
- The Aggies have now won 44 straight non-conference home games, since a 40-46 loss to Houston in December 2003. In addition, A&M has won 71 of its last 78 home games.
- The crowd of 5,672 was the third-largest in program history for a home opener.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- White has now started in 59 straight games, a streak that started on Jan. 4, 2010 against Lamar.
- In her first start since her freshman season, Adrienne Pratcher dished out a career-high nine assists and had just one turnover while adding six points and five rebounds.
- Karla Gilbert had an impressive season opener with 11 points and seven rebounds.
- In her Aggie debut, Kelsey Bone was one of five in double figures with 11.
- Elonu matched her career-high with four steals.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
Opening statement
"The opening part of the game was the hardest thing because all of us were still on a low from watching our football team. Maybe it carried over to our basketball team, because 50 turnovers between two teams is bad basketball. I'm sure coach (Larry Tidwell, Lamar Head Coach) would say the same thing on the other end.
On Kalis Loyd's play
"She's long and athletic. Even though she shot poorly in the first half, she was still blowing by anyone we had on her. It was just poor defense guarding her. If we're playing someone like (Notre Dame's) Skylar Diggins and she blows past, she'll go off for 40. We have to do a little better job of recognizing who their best player is and denying that player the ball."
On the play of A&M's seniors
"My three seniors, White, Elonu and Carter, all had a solid ballgame because they know how to play the game the way the game is supposed to be played. We're still teaching so much on those other positions. I'm still trying to find one wing player who can come and play the minutes we need when we get in foul trouble."
On the play of the A&M post players
"Bone again got off to a slow start and had foul problems., but once she got in there in the second half, I thought her and Karla (Gilbert) were a tough lineup to stop. Obviously, we cannot press with that lineup, but we got some good looks and we're going to work on that a little more. They're going to have to learn how to guard a smaller post player. Where I see the good on one end, I see the negative on the other end too. It's a luxury to have that size, but when you're on the defensive end, you have to play smaller and be quicker."
On A&M's turnovers
"I'm not sure on the wings, but the post players were having a lot of problems with their interior passing. The trouble is, we're standing at 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-7 and you have to get lower and get people off your back with that kind of size."
On developing the bench players
"I have to start getting my bench ready. And this is what this game was for, trying to develop some depth."
On playing Louisville
"I think we'll be focused. It's time for (Sydney) Carter, Tyra (White) and Adaora (Elonu) to stretch their minutes, but what I want to do is to be able to give them some rest and trust them to be able to come in and give me some continuity. I'll start reeling them in now."
Do you feel targeted because you're the defending National Champions?
I want everyone's best game, because if they give me their best game, our team will respond. It's not going to be a melon score. We were up 20 at halftime, but Lamar pinned their ears back. That's what we need sometimes. We're not robots out there; we're going to make mistakes. The kids are trying to please and I have to teach better.
SENIOR GUARD TYRA WHITE
On having a new starting point guard in Adrienne Pratcher
At first it's difficult, but Adrienne stepped up today and got us the ball in the spots we needed. I don't think anything has changed besides the name on the back of the jersey. She did everything that the coaches asked, so that's great for the first time out."
What were you thinking when Lamar jumped to a lead early?
"Just to pick up the momentum and play like we've been practicing. Cut the turnovers out. I think the turnovers came from it being our first game. That comes with it, but I think as time goes on, we'll cut the turnovers out."
JUNIOR POINT GUARD ADRIENNE PRATCHER
On having a career-high nine assists
"When we first started the game, I knew we were going to try to get out early. I didn't know at the end I had nine assists, but it shows the players and coaches that I can spread around the ball and make some things happen."
On A&M's turnovers
"For the most part, most of them were unforced mental errors and just trying to go too fast on the offensive end."
SENIOR GUARD SYDNEY CARTER
On the Lamar game
"Well I think we did a better job than in the exhibition game. I think we had time to work on our weaknesses and capitalize on our strengths. We could definitely cut down on turnovers, but overall we did a good job today."
On A&M's turnover
"A lot of them were unforced. I think a lot of them we made up our minds and knew we were going to a certain spot and we were going to throw it anyway. It's part of the growing era and we'll pick up the slack."
Did it feel different to be on the court as defending national champions?
"No, not really. I think the fact that we are the defending champs is a motivational factor. Every team is going to come give you their best and it's not going to scare us that we have a ring on our finger. Just because we lost some key players doesn't mean we won't' play well."
LAMAR HEAD COACH LARRY TIDWELL
Opening statement
"I'd just like to say we came in here and fought as hard as we could. I thought early we missed a few shots, but there's a reason for that: A&M plays great defense. I hope that they win it again. I really respect Gary Blair and his staff and what they do here. It's a hard game for us, we're playing the sixth-ranked team in the country, but one of our slogans is we try to play relentless. I had a lot of young ladies grow up today."
On A&M's defensive play
"Their defense is relentless, long, athletic, and they block out. They do an excellent job."
