COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS (AP) — Tyra White had 20 points and Kelsey Bone scored 18 points to lead No. 8 Texas A&M to a 75-58 win over Oklahoma on Sunday.
Texas A&M (10-3, 1-1 Big 12) led by six before using an 8-1 run to extend its lead to 62-49 with less than six minutes remaining. Bone, in her first season with the Aggies after transferring from South Carolina and sitting out a year, had six straight points and a steal to lead the way during that span.
The win gets the defending national champion Aggies back on track after they dropped their Big 12 opener in overtime to Kansas State on Wednesday.
Oklahoma (9-4, 1-1), which saw a six-game winning streak snapped, was led by Aaryn Ellenberg who had 18 points and Whitney Hand with 17.
A&M shot just a bit better than Oklahoma, 46 to almost 45 percent, but the Sooners were done in by their 23 turnovers which the Aggies converted into 26 points. Ellenberg had six turnovers and DaShawn Harden had seven.
The Aggies also dominated in the paint with 44 points – in large part because of the 6-foot-4 Bone.
Sydney Carter added 15 points and had five assists for A&M and Adaora Elonu chipped in 12 points and led the team with 10 rebounds. Bone also had four assists and four steals to help out.
Oklahoma trailed by seven midway through the second half before a 5-2 run fueled by a 3-pointer by Aaryn Ellenberg cut the lead to 48-44, but the Sooners couldn’t get any closer.
The Aggies used a 12-2 spurt at the beginning of the second half to erase a halftime deficit and take a 40-33 lead with about 15 minutes remaining. White led the way with six points in that span.
Texas A&M scored the game’s first nine points, but Oklahoma got going and used a 19-6 run to take a 19-15 lead seven minutes before halftime. Oklahoma led by 6 a minute before halftime, but A&M scored two quick baskets before a free throw by the Sooners to trail 31-28 at the break.
Sharane Campbell added 11 points and had a pair of steals for Oklahoma, which lost for the first time since a 69-66 loss to Fresno State on Dec. 8.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM NOTES
• For the first time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Alexia Standish, Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Kelsey Bone… It marked the first career start for Standish, the 11th of Bone’s Aggie career, 84th for White and 87th for Elonu.
• Texas A&M improves to 19-26 in the all-time series with Oklahoma and has won the last six straight between the two programs. In addition, A&M is now 12-7 at home against the Sooners.
• The Aggies increase their home winning streak to 11 straight and have won 76 of their last 82 home games.
• Texas A&M moves to 4-2 on national TV this season.
• The Aggies held the advantage 14-6 in second-chance points and 14-7 in fast break points.
• A&M held OU to a season-low 27 points in the second half.
• A&M shot 53.1 percent from the floor in the second half.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
• Elonu tallied her fifth career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
• White has now started in 71 straight games, a streak that started on Jan. 4, 2010 against Lamar.
• White has scored double figures in 20 of her last 21 games.
• Carter dished out a season-high five assists.
• Bone’s four assists were a career best and her four steals were a season high.
• Standish played a career-best 27 minutes.
POSTGAME QUOTES
A&M HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
Opening Statement
This was the best overall game we’ve played since we won our last game in the Bahamas. Our defense was outstanding, we had a great start to the ball game, and for once we had a great start to the second half. The crowd, for the third game in a row, probably made the difference in winning and losing. We thought the game was going to be a perimeter game, but we won the battle at the post position and we won the battle at the point guard position. It’s been a long time coming since we forced a good team into 23 turnovers. We’re working hard; we’re a work in progress.
On Adaora Elonu’s performance
Elonu played pretty solid. Sometimes you don’t notice her on the court and then all of a sudden, look at her stats. She’s so low-key and so valuable to us, especially when she can fill up that stat sheet and hold (OU’s Joanna ) McFarland like she did.
On Kelsey Bone’s performance
We ran some sets for her to get the ball and she made a couple of easy baskets early. I thought she only made two bad plays the whole ball game. If that’s all I can say negative, then she’s had a heck of a day and give her a lot of credit, because she’s taking coaching. I have two pretty good 5 players and I’ll go with whichever one is producing what we need.
JUNIOR CENTER KELSEY BONE
On her performance today
I knew we needed to come out strong. This has been a challenging week. We’ve gone from all the way down, to where we are today. I knew I had an advantage down low. Skylar Collins told me I should dominate. I’ve always known that, but when you hear it from somebody that goes through the trenches with you, it really rings true. When you know how to play basketball, you know how to play and I knew it was time.
On any differences in this game from the past few
Coach Blair started out his (pregame) talk with a 5-hour energy drink and we’ve never seen him like that. So, I don’t know if that was the drink or that was him, but that’s what got us pumped to start. Coach Schaefer and Coach Blair really challenged Tyra (White) defensively and she came back (in the second half) and stepped up to the plate.
SENIOR GUARD SYDNEY CARTER
On A&M center Kelsey Bone
Kelsey Bone realizes she can be as good as she wants to be. She has the experience and she has the talent. I’m speaking real strongly about her, but I think she can dominate anybody in the country if she puts her mind to it. That’s what we need form her; we need her to dominate and to play like the No. 1 or No. 2 player in the country like we know she can be.
On if this was the type of performance A&M has been waiting for
Definitely. We’ve been waiting to at least see that we can come back from such losses like we’ve had this year. It’s nice to see that we actually can play at the level we’re expected to play at. Like Kelsey (Bone) said, we’ve been through the trenches this week and it was really important for us to pick it up and let the coaches see that they can trust us to be the team they expected us to be at the beginning of the season.
On A&M’s run to end the second half
I think my team really needed to me get out there and give us a spark and give all the effort I could give on the defensive end to create some offense. That layup that Lexi (Standish) hit off that steal, I could have dunked it if I had the ball because I was so excited. That’s what my team needs, my team needs the emotion from me and it felt really good to give my team that spark and I think it carried over into the second half.
On the difference in the second half
I think that we just realized that this was our home court. In the Big 12, everything is so balanced this year that you can’t lose a game at home. We really realized that it was time to quit feeling sorry for ourselves and start playing. Once we got in our huddle at halftime and Kelsey (Bone) said, “There’s nothing left to do, than do it.” That really hit home with us. Once the chemistry gets going with the five players out there, there’s no stopping us.
SENIOR GUARD TYRA WHITE
On A&M forcing and converting on OU turnovers
I think that’s just what we do. After the last couple of games, we didn’t really get any “special points” or “gifts”. We always gave away the gifts, so that was great momentum, to receive some gifts from Oklahoma and actually score in transition.
On what she did differently in second half to get inside OU’s zone
The first half I rushed my shot and tried to go to the baseline instead of going to the middle, but in the second half, I just relaxed, read the zone and (Sydney) Carter found me a couple times on penetration. The penetration really broke down their zone and allowed us to knock down some open shots.
OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH SHERRI COALE
On A&M’s Kelsey Bone
She’s a big, strong, talented kid. Once she got going, she got fired up and you can tell her energy infuses their team.