Texas A&M
13-1, 1-0
Texas
11-4, 0-1
Smith Leads Aggie Charge Over Rival Texas In Big 12 Opener, 91-70
Jan 09, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2010
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Go back 35 years in the record book and the numbers say Texas has dominated Texas A&M.
But wait. Check out the last five years and it's clear the Aggies have turned the rivalry on its head - in a big, big way.
Tanisha Smith scored 28 points and No. 10 Texas A&M thumped No. 15 Texas 91-70 on Saturday night in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
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The Longhorns still own a 58-18 lead in the series, but the Aggies have won six in a row over their big rivals and eight of the last nine. And in their latest win, the talent gap appeared wider than ever in the Aggies' favor.
Texas A&M (13-1) had five players score in double figures, opened up a 44-19 halftime lead and stretched it as high as 30 points midway through the second half.
"We've still got a lot of work to do," Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said when asked about the turn in the rivalry. "We were dead at the bottom when we started."
Not any more. Not even close.
Considering how close the teams are in the rankings, the Longhorns (11-4) seemed stunned by Texas A&M's speed and athleticism at nearly every position. Texas simply couldn't keep up.
Texas A&M guards Smith, Sydney Colson and Tyra White routinely slashed to the basket, leaving defenders twisting to catch up or standing flat footed in the lane. When they weren't driving for baskets, they were kicking the ball out for 3-pointers.
"I think (Smith) is the best unknown player in the country right now," Blair said.
Adaora Elonu scored Texas A&M's first eight points. The Aggies shot 54 percent for the game and the Longhorns seemed to be stuck just watching as Texas A&M ran out to that 25-point hafltime lead.
"We allowed them to set the tempo and that put us in a panic mode," Texas senior guard Erika Arriaran said. "That team is very aggressive."
Nothing Texas did could slow it down.
While the Aggies were shooting 58 percent in the first half, Texas committed 15 turnovers - 10 in the first 10 minutes - that Texas A&M turned into 18 points.
"It started with our defense," Smith said. "That's the game we like to play."
Texas tried to disrupt the Aggies by going to a full-court press, but even that just created more chances for the Aggies to blow past defenders on the dribble and the lead continued to grow.
Defensively Texas A&M shut down Kathleen Nash, Texas' best perimeter shooter and one of the best 3-point shooters in the country. Nash scored just six points on 1-of-7 shooting and missed all four 3-pointers.
At the start of the second, Colson dribbled into the lane while three Texas defenders stood and watched her go by. When Danielle Adams converted a three-point play with 13:21 to play, Texas A&M led 61-31.
A 15-1 Texas run cut the deficit to 19 when Nash finished a fast break with a layup.
That was about all Texas could muster. A 3-pointer by Adams put the Aggies up 78-56, shutting down any realistic chance of a Longhorns rally.
The loss dropped third-year Texas coach Gail Goestenkors to 0-5 against Texas A&M, a frustrating mark for a coach brought in to restore Texas to national glory, but who now seems stuck treading water in the Big 12.
"I felt like we would come back sooner and a little bit more than we did," Goestenkors said. "I kept waiting for it. It was too little too late."
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the ninth time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Tanisha Smith, Damitria Buchanan (8-1).
• With the win, the Aggies have now won eight out of the last nine meetings and sixth-straight contest between the two in-state rivals. It marked only their 18th victory over the Longhorns in the all-time series and only the sixth time to win on the road in Austin. The 21-point margin of victory was the third-largest overall win by A&M in the series behind a 24-point win (98-74) on March 3, 1998 at the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City and a 22-point win (86-68) on Feb. 18, 1998 in College Station. It marked the fourth time to beat Texas by 20-or-more points in the series including a 20-point win (73-53) on Feb. 8, 2006 in Austin.
• The Aggies have now won their Big 12 opener for the fifth time in league history and fourth time on the road.
• A&M's 91 points versus Texas tied for the third-most points scored against a Big 12 Conference opponent all-time in the 14-year history of the league. The Aggies previously scored 91 points versus Oklahoma on Jan. 21, 1998 in College Station. It was tied for the second-most points in regular-season action. A&M ironically knocked down a league-high 98 points versus UT on March 3, 1998 in league tournament play and 94 points in an overtime regular-season game at Oklahoma State on Feb. 15, 1997.
• Tanisha Smith registered a game-high 28 points which marked her fourth 20-point game this season and fifth of her career. It marked her best performance in three career games played against Texas and her best career outing in Big 12 play to date. She also tied her career best in assists (7) versus the Longhorns. Her 28 points were the second-most points scored by an Aggie in a Big 12 game behind 29 points by former great Morenike Atunrase versus Kansas on Jan. 15, 2006 and 29 points by all-time leading scorer Takia Starks against Texas Tech on Feb. 17, 2008.
• Danielle Adams turned in her first career double-double with a career-high 10 rebounds and 18 points in her Big 12 debut. Adams is currently on a six-game double-digit scoring streak.
• Adaora Elonu scored all eight of A&M's first points of the ballgame in the first three minutes of regulation. It was the second best half for Elonu (10 points) of her career and the best this season. She ended the night with 14.
• With one of the nation's and league's top scoring offenses (83.3), the Aggies have now scored 80-or-more points against two top 25 opponents this season including 95 versus No. 6 Duke to open up the season on Nov. 15. It also marked the fifth time this season to knock down 90-or-more points in a contest. A&M has now beaten back-to-back opponents by 90-or-more points along with Lamar (90) in its non-conference closer on Jan. 4.
• The A&M defense held Texas' top two leading scorers to two points or less in the first half of play in Brittainey Raven (2) and Kathleen Nash (0). The Aggies' pressure also caused the Longhorns to shoot just 20.8 percent (5-of-24) from the floor which marked the worst shooting percentage in the first half by an opponent this season.
• Offensively, the Aggies scored the second most points this season against the Longhorns in the first half (44) behind defending national champion Connecticut (48). Only four total opponents this season have done so including Tennessee (41) and Oral Roberts (40).
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game and Tanisha Smith ...
"I remember Geno (Auriemma) once said, `you've got everybody else, but I've got Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore.' Well, I have Tanisha (Smith). She is the best unknown player in the country right now. She hasn't been given the credit. She isn't playing the 36 minutes like a lot of the great ones have played. She plays 28 minutes a game and this is the most she has played all year. When she just found her rhythm, she was very good. The key to the ballgame was what the two Sydneys (Colson and Carter) did in the first half. We just did a good job in transition. Our half-court defense in the first half was tremendous. Everybody was tired, except the officials. They looked like they were more fit than either of our teams out there. I am just happy. There is no way that I thought we could go in and do what we did today (against Texas). Give this team a little bit of credit. We are the only team in the Big 12, so far, who won on the road today. When you win one on the road in the Big 12, that's worth one and a half. We are going to take it and love it, but then we have to get ready for Iowa State. We aren't going to stay too high, too long and that's what our team is all about. Our road schedule helped us get ready for this."
Texas A&M Senior Guard/Forward Tanisha Smith
On the start ...
"Early, it started with our defense. Adaora Elonu came in and hit the first eight points of the game and that's what got us going. Denying the wings and getting in transition helped us. The fast pace helped us, too, and that's the game we like to play."
Texas Head Coach Gail Goestonkors
On the game ...
"I was very disappointed overall. Congratulations though to Texas A&M. I thought they played one of the best games of the year. I've seen a lot of tape on them and this was one of their better games. They're a good team. They have real nice inside and outside plays. They have contributions from everybody and you can't really try to shut down one player. They got us back on our heels and they took advantage of it, so I think they beat us in every phase of the game. They shot a great percentage and just got great contributions from everybody. It was a tough game for us. We battled better in the second half and we know we'll learn and grow from this."
Texas Sophomore Post Ashley Gayle
On the loss ...
"They definitely have a talented team. Their guards are really talented and aggressive, and their posts feed off of their guards. All together, they played really well and you can just tell that they feed off of each other. When you have five players that are in-tune, it puts us on our heels."
