Texas A&M
22-3, 10-2
Oklahoma State
15-10, 3-9
No. 5 Aggies Top Cowgirls, 76-67
Feb 19, 2011 | Women's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Texas A&M coach Gary Blair used his pregame speech to talk to his team about No. 1 Baylor's loss to unranked Texas Tech earlier in the day.
He wanted to make sure the same thing didn't happen to his fifth-ranked Aggies. For a while, though, it looked like they didn't get the message.
They finally got going late with Danielle Adams scoring 24 points as Texas A&M outlasted Oklahoma State 76-67 on Saturday night.
The score was tied 54-all with about 5 minutes remaining before Texas A&M (22-3, 10-2 Big 12) scored 11 straight points. Sydney Colson scored the first five points in that run and Adams capped it with a jump shot with about 2 minutes left.
The Aggies were up by 16 points in the first half before Oklahoma State (15-10, 3-9) took the lead midway through the second period. Texas A&M had trouble feeding Adams down low and was cold from outside for most of the second half to allow the Cowgirls to hang around until the late run.
"When you are not at your best and still be able to win, it's a beautiful win," Blair said. "You better learn to be humble and stumble. If we would have been on the road we probably would have lost today."
Texas A&M's Sydney Carter said they learned a lesson on Saturday.
"It's a wake-up call for us to see that people can do that," she said of Oklahoma State's comeback. "When we get a big lead we need to put our foot on them and keep our foot on them."
Oklahoma State was led by Toni Young's 23 points and 17 rebounds.
Cowgirls coach Kurt Budke was impressed with the Aggies despite their struggles against his squad.
"I told Gary, I think his team is no question in my mind a Final Four team," Budke said. "It's by far his best offensive team he's ever had. For us to come here ... and perform like we did tonight, I could not be more proud of these kids."
The win was Texas A&M's seventh in eight tries against Oklahoma State and got the Aggies back on track after Monday's 67-58 loss at Baylor. Adams, who turned 22 on Saturday, bounced back from Monday's performance against Baylor where she scored a season-low nine points.
Carter matched her season-high with 18 points for Texas A&M and Tyra White had 13.
Colson, who had been on the bench for big chunks in the second half after getting three fouls before halftime, came in and scored her five quick points to make it 59-54 in the run that sealed the game. She fouled out with about 3 minutes remaining when she got tangled up with Carolyn Blair-Mobley.
Aside from those points, Colson didn't do much else and finished with eight points, one assist and two turnovers.
"Those two shots were huge," Blair said. "We're struggling there. I don't throw kids under the bus (but) she knows she needs to be better."
The Cowgirls took their first lead since early in the game, 51-50, on a three-point play by Vicky McIntyre with just under 9 minutes remaining.
Adams had a tough time against Oklahoma State's defense despite leading the Aggies in scoring. The 6-foot-1 Adams went 8 of 21 while struggling to get shots over 6-6 freshman McIntyre.
"You have to consider that a good night against her," Budke said of holding Adams to 24 points. "She's a great teammate. She doesn't care about scoring. I love the kid. At the end of the night you just hope she doesn't go for 40."
Tiffany Bias scored 20 points and had five assists for Oklahoma State, who had 23 turnovers that led to 27 points by the Aggies. Nineteen of Young's points came after halftime when she asked Budke to get her the ball more.
"Second half I was more relaxed and determined to score," she said. "In the second half my team needed me to play."
Oklahoma State scored the first seven points of the second half to continue a run that started in the first half and tied it at 36-all with 18 minutes remaining.
The Aggies led by 1 early in the first half before using an 18-3 run to stretch the lead to 25-9 midway through the period. The Cowgirls responded with a 14-4 spurt to close the gap to 29-23 about 4 minutes before halftime.
Texas A&M went more than 5 minutes without scoring a basket in that span as they struggled to score against Oklahoma State's zone defense.
The Aggies led 36-29 at halftime.
POSTGAME NOTES
- For the second time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Colson, Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Karla Gilbert and Danielle Adams. The Aggies are 2-0 with this starting lineup.
- Texas A&M narrowed the all-time series to 20-21 against Oklahoma State. The Aggies have won 14 out of the last 16 meetings between the two Big 12 South rivals and swept OSU in the regular season for the sixth time and the first since the 2008-09 season.
- The Aggies totaled just three turnovers in the second half, which was a second-half season-low mark.
- A&M held the Cowgirls to 34.6 percent shooting in the first half (9-of-26), including just 25 percent from beyond the arc.
- Danielle Adams has now scored double figures in 33 of her last 34 games and tallied her 16th 20-point performance.
- Sydney Carter registered double figures for the 12th time this season, while Tyra White has now reached double figures in 19 games, including 14 of the last 17.
- Carter tallied five assists, which was the most assists she has had since a career-high eight against Purdue on Dec. 9, 2010.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gary Blair
On winning the close game…
"Oklahoma State had a great game plan. Give them credit. They executed much better on the defensive end than we did. We started the game in pretty good shape and we had very good free throw shooting down the stretch. We had as good of shots as we've had in a long time, but when you can not be at your best and still win, it's a beautiful win, especially today with a lot of the top teams losing.
"If we would have been on the road we probably would have lost tonight, but our crowd brought us through. It was a good crowd. If I was a fan I enjoyed that game."
On OSU's Toni Young…
"By far the best player on the court tonight was Toni Young. We didn't have anyone that could guard her. If she isn't player of the week, then I don't know who should be. She's got a great mid-ranged game that a lot of post players don't have. She's got my vote for first team all-conference, not just player of the week."
On struggling after Baylor…
"We didn't struggle the last time after we lost to Baylor, but we had the letdown at shoot-around today. We were not focused, we did not do a good job, we were turning the ball over right and left in shoot-around and I was not having leadership. Shoot-around should be fun because we've already had three good days of practice."
On why Tyra White dropped off after a hot start…
"Because we quit giving her the ball when she was in the flow. That's something that the whole team has to recognize. We've got a team where anybody can score, but we should have kept going to her. She just came off of a 29-point game and hit three in-a-row to start this game. Then all of a sudden she wasn't getting her touches."
JUNIOR GUARD Sydney Carter
On what let OSU back into the game…
"I just think that we put it on cruise control way too soon, I think if we're up by 20, that's still not a good lead in college basketball because of who we are. We have a target on our back and every team is going to bring their A-game every time. It's a wakeup call to see that teams are going to do that. I think we need to realize that and put on our armor, because that's the type of team that we are, a no-mercy team."
On what she expects from Tech…
"I expect them to come in here fired up. I'm pretty sure they'll be like, 'We just beat the No. 1 team, now why can't we beat the No. 5?'"
SENIOR FORWARD/CENTER Danielle Adams
On losing the lead in the second half…
"I guess we played kind of bad defense in that spurt right there, but we knew we couldn't lose so we looked to our leaders. It was a heated moment and the crowd got into it and that got us into it."
On OSU's Vicky McIntyre…
"6-6 is tall. She's there to alter shots and to block shots. Her defense with me in the hole was kind of challenging, but I found a way to get fouls and and-ones."
On if the team got frustrated tonight…
"There was never frustration, we just looked to bounce back on the mistakes that we made, get together on defense and put the ball in the hoop on offense."
OKLAHOMA STATE
HEAD COACH KURT BUDKE
On if his team grew up tonight…
"Oh I think so, because I think Gary's team is, no question in my mind, a Final Four team. I think its by far his best offensive team he's ever had. Watching them on tape, they're playing with such confidence and passion that they're really fun to watch."
On Danielle Adams' performance…
"I think you almost have to consider that a good night against her. If she doesn't make first team All-American, it'll be one of the biggest injustices in women's college basketball."
On Sydney Colson's key baskets in the second half…
"The problem with A&M is every position can score. Sydney Colson is the type of player who knows her role and executes it to perfection and that's when a senior point guard steps up and gets it done."
