Texas A&M
10-1
Prairie View A&M
3-6
No. 10 Aggies Cage Panthers, 81-64
Dec 28, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2009
Prairie View A&M Box Score in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Danielle Adams scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds and No. 10 Texas A&M pulled away in the second half of an 89-48 win over Prairie View on Monday night.
Tanisha Smith had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Tyra White added 11 points for the Aggies (10-1), who've won 62 of their last 67 games at Reed Arena.
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Latara Darrett and Gaati Werema scored 11 points apiece for the Panthers (3-6), who committed 23 turnovers. Prairie View scored only 19 points in the second half on 8-for-23 shooting (35 percent).
A&M led by 14 at halftime, then opened the second half with a 16-2 burst to double the lead. The Panthers committed four turnovers and the 6-foot-1 Adams scored 10 points and picked off a steal during the run.
The Aggies pushed the lead to 43 before Coach Gary Blair began pulling his starters.
A&M outrebounded Prairie View 54-38 and held the Panthers without a 3-pointer in six attempts. The Aggies, the Big 12's top 3-point shooting team, went 2-for-11 from 3-point range.
A&M's full-court pressure smothered Prairie View during a 12-0 run in the first half. The Panthers missed eight consecutive shots and gave away five turnovers in a 5-minute span and A&M built a 22-12 lead.
A&M missed its first four attempts from long range and 20 of its first 32 shots overall.
Dominique Smith's backdoor layup cut the Aggies' lead to 26-21 with 4:56 left in the half. A&M's defense then took control again and the Aggies finished the half with a 17-8 spurt to take a 43-29 lead.
Werema hit 4 of 6 shots and scored 11 points in the first half for Prairie View - the rest of the team shot 8-for-29 from the field (27.5 percent).
Up next, the Aggies will have a quick turnaround with a tough road battle scheduled at New Mexico (8-3) on Wednesday, Dec. 30 at The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M. The game will be televised live on the Mtn. Network (DirecTV Channel 616) and tipoff at 8 p.m. (CT).
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the first time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Tanisha Smith, Adaora Elonu and Kelsey Assarian (1-0). It marked the first career start for Assarian.
• With the victory, the Aggies have now won 13 straight in the all-time series versus Prairie View A&M dating back to a 68-49 win by the Aggies on Jan. 26, 1976.
• Former Texas A&M standouts Takia Starks and Danielle Gant were recognized at a timeout during the game for their return to Aggieland for the first time since beginning their professional playing careers in Australia and Turkey respectively.
• Sophomore Kelsey Assarian led all scorers in the first half of play with a career-high 10 points. She was one of four players in double figures with 10 and also reset career bests in field goals made (5) and blocked shots (2).
• Tanisha Smith turned in her second career double-double with 17 points and a career-high tying 10 rebounds against Prairie View. It was her first since turning in 15 points and 10 rebounds versus Colorado on Feb. 14, 2009.
• Danielle Adams reached double digits for the ninth time this season with a game-high 19 points. She went a career-high 7-of-12 from the charity stripe and brought down a career-best eight rebounds versus the Panthers.
• The Texas A&M defense held the Panthers to an opponent season-low 48 points including only 19 in the second half of play.
• The Aggies scored 52 of their final 89 points in the paint and out-boarded the Panthers, 54-38. It marked a season-high in rebounds for Texas A&M. In fact, all but two players who entered the ballgame contributed to the rebounding column.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game ...
"We felt with the size that we had, we needed to go with the bigger lineup tonight. Damitria had a minor operation about a week ago and that's why she didn't start. (Kelsey) Assarian played most of the practices the last two days. We wanted to bring in Damitria slowly into the lineup. Assarian was pretty special in the first half for us. Our kids need to learn how to finish without getting fouled. We need to learn to use the defense as a cushion and push off and finish and get a little bit more physical. Obviously, free throws were going to happen. When you haven't played in five or six days, usually your shooting percentage and your free throws go down and your turnovers go up. We can live with 15 turnovers. Prairie View is a very well-coached team. They had played better on film against Rutgers and Texas Tech, than what they did tonight. I think our defense had a little bit to do with that. I think we played very solid in the middle part of the game. I was able to get 15 kids minutes tonight. It was a good effort and it was a good crowd. Sorry about what happened with the football team. I was as disappointed as all of the football coaches. Let's turn the page and get ready for New Mexico."
Texas A&M Sophomore Forward Kelsey Assarian
On her first career start ...
"It felt really good. I just came out there and tried to play the best I could. The starting position is really good for me. I just tried to play tough out there tonight."
Texas A&M Junior Forward/Center Danielle Adams
On the team's game plan going inside ...
"I think it was our plan to get the ball inside, because they were a lot shorter than us. We planned to get the ball inside and score. We just tried to get the ball inside, because were shooting a high percentage."
Prairie View A&M Head Coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke
On the game ...
"I felt we got outplayed by the No. 10 team in country. They proved why they are the No. 10 team in the country, because they play on both ends of the court. Everyone who stepped on the court contributed. We were just outplayed and outhustled tonight."
On what she was disappointed with tonight ...
"Discipline is key. When you are playing a team like Texas A&M, you have to play with discipline and play fundamental basketball. I didn't think we did that. Otherwise, there is no chance to score. We didn't play well. We deserve to lose like we did. The effort disappointed me the most. We turned the ball over to much. You can't do that against the No. 10 team in the country, especially on their home court. We dug a hole for ourselves. You cannot come to Texas A&M and not be ready to play. This was the worst performance on both ends of the court for us. We need to pick it up. We will need to show some character to bounce back from this and it's going to start on the defensive end of the court."
