Texas A&M
14-1, 2-0
Oklahoma State
12-3, 0-2
No. 5 Texas A&M Beats Oklahoma St., 82-57
Jan 12, 2011 | Women's Basketball
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) - Maryann Baker scored a career-high 21 points, Tyra White added 20 and a career-best 13 rebounds and No. 5 Texas A&M beat Oklahoma State 82-57 Wednesday night in its Big 12 road opener.
After going scoreless in the first half, conference scoring leader Danielle Adams had eight points during the Aggies' 20-6 run coming out of halftime. Texas A&M (14-1, 2-0) also scored the final seven points of the first half to start turning a close game into a blowout.
Adams, the nation's eighth-leading scorer, finished with 14 points on 5-for-16 shooting for her 24th straight game in double figures.
Toni Young was left out of Oklahoma State's starting lineup for the first time this season but led the Cowgirls (12-3, 0-2) with 16 points and 12 rebounds for her eighth double-double. The Cowgirls lost at home against A&M for the seventh straight season.
Both teams got through nonconference play with identical 12-1 records - with Duke, currently ranked No. 3, providing the only loss for each team. At the start of Big 12 season, they seem to be headed in opposite directions.
Oklahoma State lost its conference opener by 18 at Kansas State and got blown out again with a trip to top-ranked Baylor looming Saturday.
The Aggies opened with a 28-point blowout against Colorado and followed up with another strong defensive performance with 12 steals - right at their average. Oklahoma State matched its season-high with 24 turnovers but also forced 20 by Texas A&M.
Baker's 3-pointer with 6 minutes left before halftime broke a 20-all tie and put A&M ahead to stay, and the Aggies added to their lead behind White's quick six-point burst. She hit a 3-pointer from the left wing, then stole the ball on Oklahoma State's next possession and raced down to convert a three-point play and make it 29-22 with 4:16 left before halftime.
Texas A&M then bumped its lead up to 44-31 with Baker's two free throws sandwiched between a jumper and a 3-pointer by Adoara Elonu to finish the first half with a 7-0 spurt. Oklahoma State got within 11 on Carolyn Blair-Mobley's basket to open the second half but was never closer.
Adams converted a three-point play off a putback, then hit a 3-pointer and the Aggies were soon scoring nine straight points to go up 61-35 on Baker's steal for a fastbreak layup.
Oklahoma State made only two baskets in the first 9 minutes of the second half before putting together an 8-0 run behind Lakyn Garrison's 3-pointer and Young's three-point play. But even that short-lived comeback didn't get the Cowgirls back within striking distance.
Up next, the Aggies travel to Columbia, Mo., to face the Missouri Tigers who lost 63-56 against Texas Tech tonight. The game will be televised nationally on FSN at 11 a.m. (CT).
POSTGAME NOTES
- For the ninth time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Colson, Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Danielle Adams. The Aggies are 8-1 with this starting lineup.
- A&M improved to 19-21 all-time against Oklahoma State and has now won the last seven straight in Stillwater.
- The Aggies are now 14-1 to match the best start in school history next to 14-1 starts in both 2008-09 and 2009-10.
- Texas A&M has won eight straight games, which is its longest winning streak since the 2008-09 season when the team started the year with 12 consecutive wins.
- A&M has defeated its last eight straight opponents by 25 points or more.
- A&M shot .500 from beyond the arc, which was its second-best 3-point field goal percentage of the season.
- The Aggies dished out 18 assists to just four from OSU. In addition, A&M outrebounded the Cowgirls by 14, 46-32.
- Texas A&M held Oklahoma State to just 23.3 percent shooting in the second half, including a 16.7 3-point field goal percentage. The Aggies held OSU to 31 percent from the floor and 23.1 percent from beyond the arc.
- Tyra White had a first-half season-best 13 points and matched her first-half season-high with five rebounds. Her 20 points and 13 rebounds marked her first double-double this season and the second of her career.
- Maryann Baker matched her career high with 14 points in the first half alone on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc and a first-half season-best four rebounds. She finished on 7-of-11 from the field, 3-of-4 from 3-point range and 4-of-6 from the free throw line. In an all-around game, she matched a career-high with four steals, had a season-high six rebounds and added two assists and a block.
- White and Baker combined for 41 points, half of A&M's total 82 points on the evening.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gary Blair
On the game…
"As a road team in the Big 12, people are going to make adjustments. (Oklahoma State head coach) Kurt (Budke) has a very young team, but they battled. They defended us as well as anybody has defended us in a zone the whole year, because it was a physical zone. Lakyn (Garrison's) defense at the top prevented us from getting the ball in as much as we have in the past. Kurt's team played very well, but in the second half we shot the ball well and our three-point shooting was good the whole night. We couldn't continue our press because we got into foul trouble before they did, but it was just a good Big 12 road win. It wasn't our best game, but Oklahoma State had as much to do with that as we did."
On Maryann Baker's career performance…
"This kid's going to be a coach. She asks more questions than anyone I've ever seen. She competes hard and always wants to know why. She made plays tonight. This is the first year she's been injury free and now she realizes this is it. This is her last year and she's going to leave it out there on the court. She's one of those glue players you have to have on your team. It doesn't matter if she starts or comes off the bench, she finishes and does a great job."
On Danielle Adams struggling in the first half…
"The zone Oklahoma State played had a little to do with it and the size of the Big 12. Everyone in this league has changed and they've all brought in size to compete with (Baylor's Birttney) Griner. Kurt (Budke) was doing a good job of rotating two posts in at a time and keeping them fresh and out of foul trouble, while we were subbing because of fouls or ineffectiveness."
On what worked to put the game away in the second half…
"We started defending better, got out of the press and concentrated on the half court, because I didn't think OSU could score enough to beat us as long as we protected our basket. He (Budke) has a lot of young kids and they can't really run a true motion offense, so what teams are doing against us is playing a 25-second offense and then driving to the hole and they're very effective with it. We didn't foul as much in the second half on the dribble penetration."
JUNIOR GUARD Tyra White
On getting first conference road win…
"It was a big road win for us. It shows a lot about our team with Mary (Baker) and a lot of other people stepping up when Danielle (Adams) couldn't score. It shows we have a lot of threats on our team and that you can't stop just one player because we have more scoring options."
SENIOR GUARD Maryann Baker
On her career game…
"I just went out there not expecting anything and doing whatever my team needed. We got out to a slow start and our shots weren't falling against their zone. I was able to hit a transition jumper and it just kind of got my game going. My shot was falling and it was one of those nights I was always trying to hustle, be solid on defense and do whatever my team needed."
