Texas A&M
24-4, 12-3
Kansas State
19-9, 9-6
Aggies Edged by Kansas State, 67-71
Mar 02, 2011 | Women's Basketball
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) -
Brittany Chambers scored 35 points, including seven 3-pointers, to lift Kansas State to a 71-67 victory over No. 5 Texas A&M on Wednesday night.
Chambers made all the clutch plays down the stretch as the Wildcats (19-9, 9-6 Big 12) took a big step toward the No. 4 seed and a bye in the upcoming Big 12 tournament. Chambers eclipsed her season high of 32 against Nebraska on Feb. 19.
Sydney Colson had a career-high 21 points and Danielle Adams added 19 for the Aggies (24-4, 12-3).
Texas A&M's other losses this season were against then -No. 1 Baylor (twice) and then-No. 5 Duke.
The Wildcats came out strong from 3-point range while bursting to a 20-5 lead with 12:24 left in the first half. During that span, Kansas State was 5 of 7 from behind the arc.
A&M returns home for its final regular season game against Nebraska on Saturday, March 5, when the four Aggie seniors will be honored. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Reed Arena.
POSTGAME NOTES
- For the 19th 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 15-4 with this starting lineup.
- Texas A&M falls to 7-12 in the all-time series with Kansas State. The Wildcats have won all but two games in Manhattan and got their first win in the last four matchups between the two teams.
- The Aggies outrebounded the Wildcats 40-26, including 21 offensive rebounds, and outscored K-State 34-22 in the paint.
- Sydney Colson matched her first-half career high with 12 points. She reached double figures for the seventh time this season.
- Danielle Adams has now reached double figures in 36 of the last 37 games.
- Carter registered double figures for the 14th time this season, including the last two straight games.
- Elonu (6) and Gilbert (6) combined for 12 rebounds on Wednesday.
- In just nine minutes of action, Kelsey Assarian grabbed a season-high seven rebounds.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gary Blair
On the game…
"Welcome to the NCAA Tournament K-State…that's what I told Debbie at the hand shake after the game. It was a great game for their fans and tonight we got beat by the better team. They do a great job of running a 25-second offense and scoring in the last five seconds and we couldn't force enough turnovers. They played great team ball. At the end of the game, (Sydney) Colson just put her team on her back and penetrated in, but my three seniors had 14 turnovers and there's no excuse for that. We're supposed to make better decisions. Give credit to K-State, they had a great game plan."
On any positives from the game…
"We had a lot of fight to get back in the game. We needed to be in that situation because we've been in the lead so many times this year. We fought back right before the half to make it a four-point game and then I think we made three straight stops to start the second half."
SENIOR FORWARD/CENTER Danielle Adams
On K-State's defense on her…
"They were just playing real aggressive post defense. Sometimes they were double-teaming and my teammates had the open shots and they made some and they missed some. Some points were hard to come by, but I give credit to their aggressive post defense and their coaching."
SENIOR GUARD Sydney Colson
On the game…
"We came out in the beginning of the game not intense at all, but it was a much different effort that we gave in the second half. We didn't come out focused and didn't play like the No. 5 team in the nation. Danielle, Maryann and I (three Aggie seniors) didn't lead our team by example and as a result we came away with the loss."
JUNIOR GUARD Tyra White
On playing in Kansas City next week in the Big 12 Tournament…
"We want to take this game, go back, watch film and get ready for Nebraska on Senior Night. We're not going to worry about the (Big 12) Tournament until after the Nebraska game because we don't want to take anything for granted."
