Texas A&M
8-1
Arizona State
7-2
No. 11 Aggies Get Redemption Against No. 13 Arizona State
Dec 19, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2009
LAS VEGAS (AP) -Nine months ago, Arizona State ended Texas A&M's season and the Aggies hadn't forgotten.
Tanisha Smith also had 18 to help No. 13 Texas A&M beat No. 14 Arizona State 72-62 on Saturday night in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic.
"It definitely was payback," White said. "We had it in the back of our mind."
The game was a rematch of last season's NCAA tournament regional semifinal, when the Sun Devils beat the Aggies 84-69 and shot a season-best 62 percent in what was supposed to be a low-scoring game between two very good defensive teams.
"This was more the game that everyone was expecting last year," Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said. "It was a great game for the fans who like defensive battles."
Right from the start the game had a late-season intensity to it as opposed to a mid-December matchup. Nearly every shot was contested and bodies were flying all over after loose balls.
"These are two of the best teams in the country as far as taking away what you want to do offensively," Arizona State coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "They just were a little better. It was a one-possession game with 3 minutes to go."
Texas A&M (8-1), which was coming off its first loss of the season to TCU on Dec. 12, forced Arizona State into 27 turnovers.
Danielle Orsillo scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half to lead the Sun Devils (7-2).
"We knew they were going to come out hard. This was what we thought it was going to be like last year," Orsillo said. It was dirty, ugly, it was physical." Orsillo said. "We got away from playing Sun Devil basketball, but with a young team it will help us down the road."
With the game tied at 57 with 4:12 left, Texas A&M scored the next eight points. Smith got it started with a jumper and then Sydney Carter hit two free throws and a jumper to make it 63-57.
"I think she's the best six-man in the league," Blair said of Carter.
Smith's layup with 2:03 left capped the spurt and put the game away - the Sun Devils got no closer.
Trailing by seven at halftime, Arizona State rallied to tie it at 38. The Sun Devils took their first lead since early on when Tenaya Watson hit two free throws with 10:59 left.
The teams traded leads over the next 6 1/2 minutes with neither able to muster more than a three-point advantage. Watson's free throws tied it at 57.
In the first half, Texas A&M forced Arizona State into mistake after mistake, as the Sun Devils committed 15 turnovers. They also went just more than eight minutes without a basket, but the Aggies were unable to pull away as Arizona State went 13 for 14 from the free throw line before the break.
Becca Tobin's layup with 10:09 left in the first half cut the Sun Devils' deficit to 14-12 before Arizona State went into its offensive drought. The Aggies couldn't take advantage, though, as the Sun Devils tightened their defense. By the time Kimberly Brandon hit a layup with 2 minutes left in the half, Texas A&M only led 24-19.
The Aggies went into the break up 30-23.
The game was played in a casino arena that is used mostly for rodeos. The father of Arizona State guard Haley Parsons competed in the arena earlier this year in the rodeo.
Texas A&M will play Gonzaga, and Arizona State will meet Baylor on Sunday to finish the tournament.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the eighth time this season, Texas A&M used the starting five of Tanisha Smith, Damitria Buchanan (7-1).
• With the victory, the Aggies avenged an 82-69 NCAA Sweet 16 loss to the Sun Devils in 2009. A&M improves its lead in the all-time series to 4-1. It also marked the first career victory for Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair against Arizona State in his 25 years as a Division I head coach.
• ASU was the third top 25 opponent to fall victim to the Aggies this season next to No. 6 Duke on Nov. 15 and No. 19 California on Dec. 6. It marked only the second time in program history in which A&M has beaten three ranked opponents in the non-conference season. The Aggies defeated No. 23 Pitt, No. 24 TCU and No. 25 New Mexico during the 2008-09 campaign.
• For the second consecutive game, Tyra White led all Aggie scorers with a career-high 18 points versus Arizona State. She is currently on a three-game double-digit scoring streak and has turned in double figures four times this season.
• Tanisha Smith tied White with a game-and team-high 18 points. She had 19 points in last year's Sweet 16 matchup against Arizona State. Smith has now registered double figures in eight of nine games played this season.
• Adaora Elonu hit her first career three-pointer with 21 seconds left in the first half of play against the Sun Devils.
• Damitria Buchanan made three blocks against Arizona State which moved her into ninth all-time in career blocked shots (73) surpassing former player Patrice Reado in the A&M record books. Reado made 71 career stops from 2005-08.
• The Aggies scored an opponent season-high 72 points on the ASU defense. The Sun Devils came into the ballgame holding opponents to under 55 points or less.
• The A&M defense caused Arizona State to commit 15 of their near season-high 27 turnovers in the contest in the first half of play. It was the most miscues by an Aggie top 25-ranked opponent this season.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game ...
"It was a payback game. They (Arizona State) beat us last year fair and square. Our kids wanted this, because against TCU, we got outscored 15-2 to finish that ballgame. We wanted to make sure we didn't leave that effort on the court and executed. We were spotty on offense the whole night, but not spotty on the shots we had. I thought we had great shots. We missed all of the jumpers in the first half. In the second half, we started to go inside a little more, had a little more balance and had more transition baskets."
On knowing the Arizona State rematch would be a battle nine months ago ...
"It was exactly what I expected. It was a defensive battle. The refs for the most part let them play. There were a lot of truck collisions. We were fouling, they started fouling and the game got rough. This is how they call it in the NCAA Tournament. If you are going to play Connecticut, Stanford or Tennessee, you are going to be on the floor more than you are standing. You have to learn how to play hard without fouling. They did a good job of shooting from the free throw line. They went 24 out of 26. They weren't going to miss and that's what kept them in the ballgame. I liked our defense and the adjustments we made. In the second half, we ran our set plays better. It was a great ballgame."
Texas A&M Redshirt Sophomore Guard Tyra White
On the Arizona State rematch ...
"Basically, it was a payback game for us. Coach Blair reminded us in his pregame speech about how they were able to knock us off from going to the Elite Eight last year. We were looking to come out and contest every shot and keep their scorers down. It (redemption) was in the back of our minds, but really we just wanted to come out and play after a big loss at TCU versus another ranked team and show what we have - a young team, all of whom are very talented. It helps us a lot (to play teams like Arizona State), because they are a team that plays like Baylor that is up on us defensively. It really gives us a good start and helps us a lot to get ready for conference play."
