Texas A&M
26-7
Portland State
18-15
Aggies Pull Away From Portland State in NCAA First Round, 84-53
Mar 20, 2010 | Women's Basketball
March 20, 2010
Portland State Box Score in PDF Format 
SEATTLE (AP) - Seeing themselves trailing a No. 15 seed, even if was still in the first half, was the wake up Texas A&M needed.
Tanisha Smith finished an assist short of a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and the second-seeded Aggies shook off pesky Portland State for a 84-53 win in the first-round of the Sacramento region on Saturday night.
The bigger, faster and more talented Aggies (26-7) allowed the upstart Vikings to hang around for most of the first half, even watching Portland State (18-15) run off six straight points to take a 28-27 lead with 4:25 left in the half.
That basket by Portland State's Eryn Jones became the ignition Texas A&M coach Gary Blair was searching for to overcome the uncharacteristic mistakes his team made in the opening minutes. The win also made Blair the Aggies' all-time leader with 155 victories.
Texas A&M closed the first half on a 12-3 spurt and then outscored Portland State 18-6 to start the second half to end any thought of the Vikings becoming the first No. 15 seed to ever pull a first-round NCAA tournament upset.
Believing they are flying undetected among tournament contenders, the Aggies set up a second-round date with either No. 7 seed Gonzaga or 10th-seeded North Carolina, who played Saturday's late game. The Aggies were reminded all week of the 2009 tournament when they were expected to cruise into the regional finals as a No. 2 seed and a date with Connecticut, only to stumble in the regional semis and fall to sixth-seeded Arizona State.
Jones and leading scorer Claire Faucher each finished with 15 points for the Vikings. But Faucher was harassed all night by the Sydney-combo of Texas A&M guards Sydney Carter and Sydney Colson. The result: Faucher was 6 of 19 shooting, including just 3 of 14 on 3-pointers after scoring 26 points and hitting eight 3-pointers in the Big Sky tournament title game. She was also left with one sore body after a scary crash into the basket standard late in the first half that had her limping off the floor at halftime. Faucher played most of the second half but made just 3 of 13 shots.
Seeming unfazed by the lofty accolades of the Aggies, Portland State harassed and irritated the Aggies into nine turnovers in the first half, and even laughed at its own mistakes. When Katy Wade flung a crosscourt pass into the first row behind the Aggies' bench, Portland State coach Sherri Murrell could only chuckle on the bench.
But it wasn't all laughs for the Vikings. They hit five 3s in the first half and even took a 28-27 lead on Jones' jumper with 4:25 left, bringing not only the green-glad Vikings fans to their feet.
The lead didn't last long. Texas A&M regained control before halftime and quickly turned the contested into the rout everyone expected. The only lingering question was if Smith would get a triple-double, but Cierra Windham's jumper in the final minutes rimmed out, Smith's last chance at a 10th assist.
The Aggies will face seventh-seeded Gonzaga (28-4) in the second round of the 2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship on Monday, March 22 at 8:30 p.m. (CT) on ESPN2.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the 10th time this season and 10th consecutive ballgame, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Tanisha Smith, Damitria Buchanan (9-1). Carter, White, Elonu and Buchanan made their first career start in NCAA Tournament play.
• With the win, the Aggies even the all-time series with Portland State at 1-1 and have now won four-straight NCAA opening-round games since 2007. It also marked the 155th career victory for seventh-year Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair who became the all-time winningest women's basketball coach in school history surpassing 154 career victories compiled by former head coach Lynn Hickey from 1984-1994.
• Danielle Adams extended her current double-digit scoring streak to eight games with a game-high 23 points against Portland State in 23 minutes of action off the bench. It marked her seventh 20-point game of her career and the second-best all-time scoring performance by an Aggie in an NCAA contest.
• Tanisha Smith dished out a career-high nine assists which was the second-most by an Aggie in an NCAA Tournament game behind a school-record 11 by Lisa Branch versus Florida in the NCAA First Round in 1994. Smith had a near triple-double performance with 17 points and 10 rebounds, which marked her fifth double-double of her career.
• Sophomore Adaora Elonu registered nine of her 15 points in the first half of play versus the Vikings. She previously only scored two points in three NCAA games played during her freshman campaign in 2008-09.
• Sydney Colson scored in double figures for the first time since registering 10 points at Colorado on Feb. 27. She missed four games of the season, and most of the month of February, with a stress reaction in her left fibula. Her 13 points versus PSU matched a personal best for her in eight career NCAA Tournament games played since her freshman campaign in 2007-08. She also turned in 13 against Minnesota in the NCAA Second Round in 2009.
• The Aggies, who were averaging 75.4 points per game leading into the first-round contest, knocked down 84 points against Portland State to mark the second most points scored by A&M in an NCAA game.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game ...
"Portland State did an excellent job in the first half. They were shooting threes and hitting us back door. I don't know if you're aware of Kansas State, but they play a 25-second offense and wait for you to make a mistake. They do a very good job of hitting a shot in the last five seconds. Portland State was doing a great job. They had some turnovers early, but with as much pressure, we thought we could force some more, but we couldn't. We switched to zone and started to play hope they miss defense and they did. The hit one out of their last six shots. It's not that the zone is that good - it's the change of pace. All of sudden you play a zone and sometimes you're open and you shoot and miss. In the second half we made some adjustments, went right back to our man-to-man and full-court pressure. It was hard to pressure in the first half because we weren't scoring enough. Our pressure bothered them a little, tired them out and forced some turnovers. We got the ball inside as you can tell by the points in the paint. Tanisha (Smith) had her solid ballgame. She fills up the stat sheet on the right side and that's what you've got to do. She doesn't have too many double doubles and she needed one more assist for a triple double. We tried to get her that on a last set play but my freshman missed the shot in the corner. She was a little nervous. Other than that, these kids up here were solid. We started [Sydney] Colson in the second half because we wanted to up the tempo to get it going a little bit faster. She's pretty good at upping the tempo. She makes the rest of us run. Danielle (Adams) was solid inside."
Texas A&M Junior Forward/Center Danielle Adams
On how she feels where her team is right now ...
"We're just focused right now. We're trying to get our focus back. We're coming into the NCAA Tournament after the Big 12 Championship so we know we have to start all over again. It's 0-0 like the beginning of the season. We're just focused and trying to give it all we got."
Texas A&M Junior Point Guard Sydney Colson
On the first half being a surprise at all with Portland State hanging around ...
"I think in the first half we came out and they forced the action. They played a really good first half, so give them credit. We got after them in the second half and picked up the defensive intensity. But, definitely in the first half, we were making some unforced turnovers and a lot of forced turnovers. We couldn't get in a rhythm and that was due to the defense they were playing. We weren't doing very well against the zone, but in the second half we made some adjustments. We came out and it looked like were underestimating them a little bit too much. They were hitting a lot of good shots and taking advantage of what we weren't doing correctly. They were getting out in transition. In the second half we definitely had to make some changes and play better defense and start going into Danielle (Adams) in the offense in the low post and just make better decisions in general."
Texas A&M Sophomore Point Guard Sydney Carter
On the difference from the first half and second half ...
"I think the intensity on the defensive end really picked up and we just woke up and realized that this could be our last game and so the first half we didn't defend well, we let them have wide open threes and we knew they were shooters. The second half we did a better job of contesting and making sure we were blocking out and getting rebounds."
On guarding Portland State's Claire Faucher ...
"I think I did O.K. I don't think I defended as well as I could have. I was a little tired out there today, but I think I did a better job in the second half like said contesting her shots and I think she went 6-for-19 which is not bad defensively but I think I could have done a better job of going over screens knowing that she could pull the trigger from anywhere."
Portland State Head Coach Sherri Murrell
On the game ...
"I'm pretty proud of these young ladies. We gave them everything we had and unfortunately, it was just in one half. I have to compliment Texas A&M. They're just long and athletic. I was most proud of my young ladies because they had no fear in their eyes and that was our number one key."
On Claire Faucher and her career ...
"I think she's one of the best passers. Unfortunately, we didn't cut well away from the ball to be able to put her in a position to succeed with the assists tonight, but still one of the best passers in the country. To me, she put a stamp on Portland State. We had a lot of alumni that came back, because of Claire."
Portland State Senior Forward Erin Yankus
On the overall experience playing in the NCAA Tournament ...
"I think the experience was so great that it took a while to set in. And it slowly set in more and more with everything we had and it was just great for everyone."
Portland State Junior Forward Kelli Valentine
On what they accomplished this season ...
"This was our goal. To make it to the NCAA tournament. Now we're just going to work harder - during the summer and the pre-season - in order to get back here next year."
