Adams Nets School-Record 40 Points in A&M's Win Over Kansas

Saturday, February 12

College Station

7:00 PM

Texas A&M

21-2, 9-1

Kansas

16-9, 3-8

Kansas

Texas A&M

Feb 12, 2011 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Danielle Adams scored 26 of her school-record 40 points in the first half and No. 5 Texas A&M coasted to an 81-58 win over Kansas on Saturday night.

Adams led the charge in a dominant first half, helping the Aggies build a 19-point halftime lead. The Jayhawks never threatened after the break despite Adams slowing down a bit. She made 10 of her first 14 shots, then went 6 for 12 from the field in the second half.

Texas A&M (21-2, 9-1 Big 12) has won three straight heading into Monday's rematch at top-ranked Baylor. The Aggies, who trail the Bears in the conference standings, lost 63-60 in the first meeting with Baylor.

Carolyn Davis had 16 points, but Kansas (16-9, 3-8) was hurt by a season-high 31 turnovers.

Adams went to the bench to a standing ovation after breaking Lori Foreman's school record on a layup with 2 1/2 minutes to play that made it 77-55. Foreman scored 39 against Texas Women's University on Feb. 8, 1980.

Adams' previous career best was 34 points in a win over Texas this season.

Sydney Colson finished with a season-high 16 points and nine assists in the Aggies' eighth straight win over Kansas. Adaora Elonu had eight points, nine rebounds, a season-high four assists, three steals and three blocked shots.

The Jayhawks didn't have an answer for Adams, the Big 12's leading scorer. The 6-foot-1 senior scored on layups, jump shots and even stepped back to swish a 3-pointer with a defender in her face. And that was all in the first half. She made all of her seven free throws in her 32nd straight double-digit scoring game.

Adams also had six rebounds and three steals.

Davis, Kansas' leading scorer, played just six minutes in the first half after picking up two early fouls.

The Aggies led by three midway through the first half before going on a 16-4 spurt to stretch the lead to 34-19 four minutes before halftime. Colson scored the first seven points in the run and Adams also had seven in the surge.

Texas A&M led 48-29 at intermission after scoring 24 points off 19 Kansas turnovers.

The Aggies wore pink shoes and uniforms with pink accents as part of a breast cancer awareness day to raise money for the Kay Yow Foundation.

Up next, A&M travels to Waco, Texas, for an important ESPN2 "Big Monday" rematch against No. 1 Baylor on Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. (CT).

POSTGAME NOTES

For the 16th 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 14-2 with this starting lineup. Every able Aggie player saw action in the game.
Texas A&M now leads 9-7 in the all-time series with Kansas. The Aggies have won the last eight straight and nine of the last 10 matchups.
A&M swiped a first-half season-high 13 steals en route 18 on the evening, which was the second most the Aggies have recorded all season. The Aggies only allowed four steals from Kansas, which matched its season-low.
A&M outscored Kansas 50-28 in the paint.
For the seventh time this season, the Aggies distributed 20 assists in a game.
Sydney Colson now has 136 assists in 2010-11, which is the most she has recorded in a single season.
$33,300 was raised for breast cancer research and the Kay Yow Foundation from the jersey auction alone this evening.

POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gary Blair
On what was successful...
"Our press was very effective in the first half because we were creating a tempo. I knew I was going to play a lot of players, I wanted to play fast and we played fast and beautiful. We were committed to taking what was given to us tonight and that was the inside game. We got them in foul trouble and Danielle (Adams ) finished. The pressure we put on their one and two guards created their 31 turnovers."

On Danielle getting the A&M scoring record...
"Why did I let her go for it? Because she had 26 points in the first half. She's been playing a point a minute and she was so hot. I wanted her to get it early in the second half, but she couldn't get it. We probably won't have another chance like this, because look how many minutes she's been sitting out in the last five games in the first half by getting in foul trouble early. Why not throw her a bone when she's throwing us a bouquet of roses by just being Danielle Adams. She's the most humble star I've ever had a chance to coach. That's how humble she is. The first time she got double-teamed in the second half, she passed to Adaora (Elonu) and that just shows how unselfish she is. She's a special kid and hopefully she can make All-American on her own. "

On Sydney Colson's play...
"Sydney Colson was as good in transition as I've seen her all year. Her family was here and she was really feeling it."

On the combo of Danielle Adams and Sydney Colson...
"I need for Danielle and Colson to do it in the major games, like against the Baylor and the Gonzagas, and we need for them to do it every night. This is their senior year and their last go around, so it's time for them to step up to be seniors and lead this team. They need to find a way. If they're not having a good shooting night, then be a rebounder or get the assists."

On KU's Carolyn Davis...
"She's a load. She's got great hands and their guards do a great job of lobbing the ball to her. We have to do a little better job pressuring the ball in that situation, particularly when we play Baylor on Monday."

On playing Baylor on ESPN2 "Big Monday"...
"We know what we're playing for Monday. We'll have a chance to win a ring and that's all we want. We want to go get better playing Baylor and if a "W" happens that's great. We'll keep getting better as a basketball team. We're a better basketball team now, than when we played them last, but so is Baylor. They really have a great compliment of players to go along with Brittney (Griner). When we go to play Baylor we're going to have to have an outside game because we can't get the same shots we had tonight inside against Baylor."

SENIOR FORWARD Danielle Adams
On if she knew how well she was doing in the first half...
"No, not at all. In the first half I was feeling it, but my teammates were like, "Look at the scoreboard." and I was like, "Why, we're winning?" And they said I had just scored 26 point in the first half. I just give all the credit to my teammates and the coaches, who push me every day in practice. My teammates playing well on defense pumped me up even more.

On her inside game against Kansas...
"Coach Blair came and told me at a timeout to keep taking it inside and that they couldn't stop me. My teammates kept telling me that the entire game as well, so I just stayed inside and didn't really attempt many 3-pointers."

On getting the single-game scoring record...
"It is a big honor for me. The first time I came to A&M I was out of shape and my teammates told me to keep pushing, and that's what I did. They believed in me. They knew I could do it and I trusted them and I trusted the coaches. I am the player I am today because of them."

On playing Baylor on Monday...
"I think we're pretty confident going into the game Monday. The first time we played them we knew we could beat them. I made some stupid fouls in the first game, but I know we can beat them and so does everyone else. A win in Waco and to knock off the No. 1 team would be great."

SENIOR GUARD Sydney Colson
On if she noticed a difference in Danielle's play tonight...
"It just looked like the same old Danielle to me, but that's usual. She's a silent scorer because she can get four or five "and-ones" in-a-row and you just don't realize how quickly they add up. I'm very proud of her."

On turnovers in the second half...
"We had too many turnovers in the second half, trying to make some things happen and not reading the zone well and forcing some passes. We also forced a lot of turnovers though, so I know we were out there playing hard."

On what the team did to force Kansas' turnovers...
"I think in the beginning, we were denying their wings and they were trying to get it in to the post, while our posts were sitting them and getting some tips. We were just aggressive and kept at it."

On playing Baylor on Monday...
"When we go there, they always have an outstanding crowd and a lot of support. We just need to go up there with the mentality that we can play with them. We can do a lot of things better than the last time we played them and we need to go out there with a serious kind of focus. This is a big game and we'll be prepared and execute whatever game plan the coaches give us."

KANSAS HEAD COACH BONNIE HENRICKSON
On the difficulty of guarding Danielle Adams...
"Part of post defense is pressuring the ball and we didn't pressure the ball and then never made the adjustment. Once you set up underneath with her on offense, you're not getting around. She's a fantastic player and she can score in a variety of ways and she certainly showed everyone again just how versatile she is. I think Danielle Adams knows that I'm on the All-American committee, that's what I think. She made my speech in there pretty easy."

KANSAS SOPHOMORE FORWARD CAROLYN DAVIS
On guarding Danielle Adams...
"She's a tough match up. She's a big body, bigger than all of our post players. We tried to work on getting up the line in practice, but we didn't execute that today and that's why she got easy duck-ins. We were also fouling her, so she got free points at the foul line too."
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