Texas A&M
17-6, 5-5
Kansas State
12-12, 4-6
Aggies Get Back on Winning Track, Down K-State 69-63
Feb 13, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 13, 2010
Kansas State Box Score in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Sydney Carter scored a career-high 24 points to help No. 13 Texas A&M overcome a sluggish start and get a 69-63 win over Kansas State on Saturday night.
The victory ends a two-game skid for the Aggies and is their third straight win over Kansas State (12-12, 4-6).
Kansas State got within four points before Texas A&M (17-6, 5-5) scored seven straight capped by a 3-pointer by Carter to push the lead to 63-52 with about 1 1/2 minutes remaining and put the game out of reach.
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Texas A&M trailed by one point before going on a 8-0 run, with five points by Carter, to take a 50-43 lead with about seven minutes left.
Kansas State's Taelor Karr made four 3-pointers and all of her team-leading 19 points in the first half.
Texas A&M scored 11 straight points to open the second half and take a 36-33 lead with about 14 minutes remaining. Tanisha Smith scored the last five points of the run and capped it with a 3-pointer while coach Gary Blair went with a smaller lineup and left leading scorer Danielle Adams on the bench to start the second half.
The Wildcats saw their halftime lead evaporate as they missed their first 10 shots of the second half, finally scoring on a layup by Jalana Childs almost seven minutes into the half.
Adams got back into the game about midway through the second half and finished with 14 points and Smith had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Wildcats hit 11 3-pointers, but made just 31 percent of their field goals overall. Brittany Chambers added 17 points for Kansas State and Kari Kincaid had 13.
Texas A&M led by seven before Kansas State went on an 18-4 run, fueled by four 3-pointers, including three from Karr, to take a 27-20 lead about four minutes before halftime.
The Aggies cut the lead to four points with just under a minute to go in the first half, but Karr hit a 3-pointer and a free throw to leave Kansas State ahead 33-25 at halftime.
Texas A&M wore white uniforms with pink trim, the Wildcats donned solid pink ones and most of the almost 5,000 fans wore bright pink T-shirts on Saturday to promote breast cancer awareness.
The Aggies will travel to No. 14 Oklahoma State (18-6, 6-4) for a key road matchup on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. (CT) in Stillwater, Okla.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the second time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Tanisha Smith, Damitria Buchanan (1-1). Carter started at point guard in place of Sydney Colson who sat out her third game of the season with a stress reaction in her left fibula.
• With the win, the Aggies claimed their third consecutive and seventh overall victory in the all-time series versus Kansas State. They snapped a two-game losing stretch in Big 12 Conference play and are now 3-1 versus Big 12 North opponents this season.
• Sydney Carter turned in her second-straight contest in double figures with a career-and game-high 24 points against the Wildcats. Carter also dished out a career-high tying six assists with just one turnover and knocked down a career-high four three pointers in the ballgame. Both of Carter's best career games in Big 12 play have been against Kansas State. She also scored a previous career-high of 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor and 3-of-5 accuracy from beyond the three-point line on March 1, 2009 in Manhattan, Kan. It marked the 10th time this season in which an A&M player has reached 20-or-more points in a contest.
• Tanisha Smith has been a rebounding machine grabbing six-or-more boards in five out of the last six Big 12 games for the Aggies. She has now turned in back-to-back double-double performances, the fourth of her career, with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds versus Kansas State.
• Kansas State shot an opponent season-high 11 three-pointers in the ballgame which marked a Reed Arena opponent single-game record. It tied the all-time Reed Arena record of 11 three-pointers made by Texas A&M versus Iowa State on Jan. 12, 2002 and against Mercer on Nov. 16, 2006. The Wildcats also put up a Reed Arena opponent record 34 three-point attempts in the game surpassing 26 by Santa Clara on Dec. 1, 2002.
• For the fourth-straight season, A&M donned its pink specially-made adidas uniforms and 4,861 fans at Reed Arena were decked out in pink T-Shirts in support of breast cancer awareness and the Aggies' BTHO Breast Cancer campaign benefiting the Kay Yow Foundation.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game ...
"We are still a work in progress. We almost had WNIT written on our chest. We could have lost this ballgame and you can't afford to lose home ballgames (in the Big 12). I really liked how our kids responded after halftime. I was only in the locker room for about two minutes and Coach (Vic) Schaefer was in there for one minute. The kids figured it out amongst themselves on how there were going to get on the same page. (Sydney) Carter was doing such a good job of running her team than she did over the last couple of games. They (Kansas State) wanted Carter to beat us. She had a better (shooting) percentage and did a good job of going to the free throw line. Offensive boards and the lack of forcing turnovers affected us in the first half. It's hard to force turnovers when they dribble, dribble, dribble, and don't give up the ball. They are a good offensive team. I thought we did a good job on (Ashley) Sweat all night and we did a good job of free throw shooting. Our set plays in the second half were very good. The first seven or eight minutes of the second half, was all defense and hunt and peck on offense. (Taelor) Carr had 19 points in the first half and zero in the second half. We got to the free throw line early. We are nowhere near the team we were in November and December, but we are getting better on the practice court and in the film room. We just have to make sure we win ballgames right now."
On Kansas State's lead in the first half ...
"Give Kansas State a lot of credit. There are a lot of talented teams in this league. They are a young team. They have two freshmen (Brittany Chambers and Taelor Karr) who are excellent and are going to be very good. Their two veteran coaches (head coach Deb Patterson and associate head coach Kamie Ethridge) had us scouted to a T."
Texas A&M Sophomore Guard Sydney Carter
On the differences between the first and second halves ...
"At halftime, Coach (Blair) was pretty livid with us. I think it was the fact that we were not playing hard (in the first half). We had a great talk as a team at halftime. We knew we had to come out and get it together. We knew this game was crucial. The first half was a wake-up call for us."
On setting career-highs against Kansas State ...
"I must like playing against Kansas State. I know I haven't played well over the last couple of games and I've been getting into the gym to work on my game. Definitely shutting her (Taelor Karr) down was more pleasurable than scoring 24 tonight."
Texas A&M Sophomore Forward Adaora Elonu
On the game ...
"We were really careless in the first half. We were just watching the ball drop and not going to get it (the rebound). We have been working really hard on our rebounding in practice. We came out strong in the second half and did what we were supposed to do. We played like how we started off the season (in November and December)."
Kansas State Head Coach Deb Patterson
On the game ...
"Big 12 basketball is just tough. I thought we put ourselves in a position to be really competitive. Obviously, that's what you hope for on the road. Offensively, we missed some easier opportunities in the second half that you have to convert on and that was a big factor for us. We didn't score the ball well in the second half. Credit Texas A&M's defense, their length and their help play at the rim. It goes without saying Sydney (Carter) had a great day today. I thought she was a difference maker in the game on the offensive end of the floor. I'm proud of the competitive intensity we brought to the floor. It was a very good Texas A&M team that we lined up against today. They took every possession by possession to separate themselves from us. We just didn't shoot the ball well enough in the second half to stay with Texas A&M."
On scouting and prepping to defend Sydney Carter ...
"With this A&M team, our preparation was honestly to prepare for all potential scorers on the floor. We understand that at any time, they can all cut loose. We knew Sydney (Carter) could shoot the three and it's unfortunate for us that we gave her a little room. You know she is going to make a good play. She's a great player and she's done so consistently for her basketball team. She's elevated her game and she wasn't a surprise for us (in our scout)."
