Texas A&M
18-1, 6-0Big 12
Oklahoma
15-4, 5-1Big 12
No. 5 Aggies Pick Up 80-78 Road Win Over No. 12 Sooners
Jan 26, 2011 | Women's Basketball
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - Conference scoring leader Danielle Adams tallied 31 points, including the decisive free throws with 7.6 seconds left, and No. 5 Texas A&M won its 12th straight game by beating 12th-ranked Oklahoma 80-78 on Wednesday night.
It was the second straight road win over a ranked foe for Texas A&M (18-1, 6-0), which won for the first time ever at Iowa State on Saturday. The Aggies won't have long to savor either win, though, as they're set to host No. 1 Baylor on Sunday in yet another conference showdown.
Danielle Robinson led Oklahoma (15-4, 5-1) with 33 points and almost single-handedly fueled a comeback from a 15-point first-half deficit. But Robinson, an 87 percent free throw shooter, missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 30.6 seconds left and her driving shot over Adams as time expired wasn't close.
Texas A&M has won five of its last six games against Oklahoma, although the Aggies are only 3-16 all-time against the Sooners in Norman. Before Wednesday, the Aggies hadn't won at Lloyd Noble Center since 2007.
But the formula that has worked so well for the Aggies all season - use a pressing, trapping defense to cause mistakes by the opponent - again proved effective against Oklahoma in a rematch of last season's conference tournament title game, won by Texas A&M.
Adams, the reigning conference player of the week, scored from all angles - layups, bank shots, medium-range jumpers and 3-pointers. But it was her poise at the line that proved decisive in the final seconds.
With the score tied 78-all in the final minute, Oklahoma missed three chances to take the lead, as Robinson missed two driving layups, hitting nothing on the second try. But the Sooners got the basketball back both times before Adams fouled Robinson 25 feet from the basket.
After Robinson missed, Sydney Colson missed on a driving layup attempt, but Adams rebounded and was fouled by Lyndsey Cloman, setting up the winning free throws.
Three Oklahoma starters - Carlee Roethlisberger, Robinson and Joanna McFarland - picked up two fouls each in the first eight minutes. Still, the Sooners led 21-18 before Adams fueled a 21-3 run, scoring 13 points in 4 1/2 minutes. Texas A&M led 39-24 with 5:16 left in the half.
Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale reinserted all three players to try and stem the tide, but Roethlisberger and McFarland both picked up their third fouls in vain attempts to slow the Aggies' potent inside game.
The Sooners opened the second half on a 9-0 run and pulled to 47-43, but Aaryn Ellenberg missed 3-point shots on three straight possessions while the Aggies countered with baskets by Maryann Baker and Adams, starting a 7-0 spurt that ended the rally.
But behind Robinson, the Sooners kept coming. She assisted on a 3-pointer by Roethlisberger that tied the game at 65 with 7:30 left. A 3-pointer by Whitney Hand, who had 17 points, put Oklahoma ahead 71-69 with 5:24 left.
Oklahoma finished 8 of 18 from 3-point range.
Tyra White added 14 points and Sydney Carter had 12 for the Aggies.
POSTGAME NOTES
- For the 13th 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 12-1 with this starting lineup.
- Texas A&M improves to 16-26 in the all-time series with Oklahoma. The Aggies won just their third game (3-16) when playing on the road in Norman. Their last win was by two points (54-52) on Jan. 27, 2007.
- A&M matched a program-best 12-game winning streak with its victory against Oklahoma.
- The Aggies extend their best overall start (18-1) and their best Big 12 start (6-0).
- The Aggies led by as many as 17 points in the first half which was its largest lead against OU in the Gary Blair Era. Its previous largest lead at Lloyd Noble Center was by eight points on Feb. 12, 2008.
- A&M led by 13 points at the half, its largest and only lead in Norman at halftime in the Gary Blair Era.
- Danielle Adams' scored a first-half, career-high 21 points en route to 31 points on the evening.
- Danielle Adams extended her double-digit scoring streak to 28 straight games and marked her 12th 20-point game and fourth 30-point game this season.
- Sydney Carter reached double figures for the ninth time this season, while Tyra White registered double figures for the 15th time. White added eight rebounds.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gary Blair
On the game...
"Danielle Robinson is a great player. That's all there is. Oklahoma did a great job of coming back to start the second half. We lost our poise at the point guard position, but then they gathered it back and started running our offense and getting it inside to Danielle (Adams) and hitting the timely shots. Both teams shot it well tonight and both teams were rebounding like heck. The turnovers were the only thing that made it a little sloppy, but my gosh it was a high-paced game. Give Oklahoma a lot of credit. This is what the Big 12 is all about and you just saw two of the best three teams in the league. It was a great college game and I'm glad it was on your television network."
On Danielle Adams...
"Everyone tries to stop Danielle inside with double or triple teams and then she goes outside and hits the jumper. When she's guarding a post player, then has to go outside to hit the shot, that's tough, but if she misses, she never misses bad. I'm very lucky to have her."
SENIOR FORWARD/CENTER Danielle Adams
On the game and Danielle Robinson's success...
"We did pretty well the first half. It went fast. We tried to contain Robinson and got her in foul trouble, which was a great success for us in the first half. (Sydney) Carter did a good job on her defensively and we played our game tonight. In the second half, Robinson just took over the game and started scoring. Robinson is a great player and we just went head to head tonight. I give a lot of credit to Carter. She tried her best all game to contain her and we just didn't do enough to help her in the second half. "
On the final play to stop Robinson's drive...
"I knew after Sydney Colson turned her (Robinson) I had to step up and make a defensive play and that's what I did."
On the final two free throws to win the game...
"I just took my time, zoned out on everything, took a deep breath and hit both free throws."
JUNIOR GUARD Sydney Carter
On back-to-back Big 12 road wins...
"It's big. It says a lot about our mental toughness and our ability to put two games together back-to-back like that. Coming in here I knew I'd never won here before and I put that on my list as one of my goals. It's a big win and I'm feeling good right now."
