AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Danielle Adams scored 26 points and No. 5 Texas A&M beat Texas 68-65 on Sunday, the Aggies’ 10th consecutive win over their big rivals.
Texas A&M held the Longhorns to just 17 points in the first half – the second-lowest first-half total in Texas history – then had to hold on as Texas scored 48 in the second to rally.
Adams made two critical free throws with 16 seconds left to put the Aggies ahead 66-59 and put the game out of reach. The Longhorns made two last desperate 3-pointers, the last with 1 second left.
Yvonne Anderson scored 24 points for the Longhorns (17-11, 6-8 Big 12) and sparked the second-half rally before Texas lost its third in a row and fourth in five games.
Tyra White scored 14 for Texas A&M (24-3, 12-2).
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Aggie Dominance
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| Texas A&M has now won 10 consecutive meetings against Lonestar Rival Texas and 12 of the last 13 matchups. Here is a look at those results: | |||
| Date | Result | Score | Location |
| Feb. 27, 2011 | Win | 68-65 | Austin |
| Jan. 19, 2011 | Win | 80-65 | College Station |
| March 12, 2010 | Win | 77-64 | Kansas City |
| Feb. 20, 2010 | Win | 58-44 | College Station |
| Jan. 9, 2010 | Win | 91-70 | Austin |
| Feb. 21, 2009 | Win | 76-65 | College Station |
| Jan. 28, 2009 | Win | 68-54 | Austin |
| Feb. 24, 2008 | Win | 65-50 | Austin |
| Feb. 9, 2008 | Win | 66-57 | College Station |
| Feb. 28, 2007 | Win | 67-60 | College Station |
| Jan. 21, 2007 | Loss | 45-64 | Austin |
| Feb. 22, 2006 | Win | 79-67 | College Station |
| Feb. 8, 2006 | Win | 73-53 | Austin |
Texas desperately needed a win to solidify its chances for making the NCAA tournament as an at-large selection if the Longhorns can’t play their way in by winning the Big 12 tournament. Texas is 0-10 against ranked opponents this season and has just two games left to get to .500 in conference play.
In the first half, the Aggies stifled Texas with defense that challenged every shot on the perimeter and denied just about any entry pass the Longhorns looked for. Texas shot just 22 percent from the field in the half and 11 of its first 17 shots were from 3-point range. Pressure from Aggies guards twice forced the Longhorns into shot-clock violations and Texas had 13 turnovers in the half.
Texas A&M would have had a bigger lead if not for its own shooting problems. Adams and White scored at will and the Aggies got 24 of their 32 points in the half in the paint, but A&M otherwise struggled to shoot from any distance longer than about 8 feet.
The start of the second half wasn’t much different. Adams scored 10 of the Aggies’ first
14 points of the second, easily posting up for layup.
Texas eventually started hitting all the shots it was missing in the first and scored 17 points in 7 minutes. But even then, the Longhorns were struggling to chip away at the lead. When Texas coach Gail Goestenkors was hit with a technical foul, Sydney Carter’s two free throws gave Texas A&M a 48-34 lead.
A 20-11 run by Texas, with a rash of turnovers by the Aggies, eventually helped the Longhorns cutting the lead. Texas shot 59 percent in the second half and Kathleen Nash’s 3-pointer got Texas within nine.
Anderson scored 10 points in the run and her 3-point play made it 60-54 with 5 minutes left.
Chassidy Fussell’s layup with 21 seconds left pulled Texas within five, but Ashley Gayle was whistled for her fifth foul to send Adams to the line for the game-clinching free throws. The Aggies made 10 of 13 free throws in the second half.
Up next, the Aggies head out for their final Big 12 Conference road game at Kansas State on Wednesday, March 2. The game is televised on FS Kansas City at 7 p.m. (CT).
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the 18th 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 15-3 with this starting lineup.
• Texas A&M improved to 22-58 in the all-times series with Texas. The Aggies have now won 10 straight including 12 out of the last 13 meetings between the two storied rivals.
• The Aggies held on to the Lone Star Showdown trophy for the fourth straight time in the seven-year history of the rivalry series. The women’s basketball team swept UT to earn a full point toward the final point count.
• The Aggies held Texas to just 22.2 percent shooting in the first half, including 8.3 percent from beyond the arc. Both were lows for A&M opponents in Big 12 play this season.
• A&M outscored the Longhorns 46-26 in the paint and 35-4 on second chance points.
• Danielle Adams posted her 12th double-double this season and the 15th of her career. In addition, Adams has reached double figures in 35 of her last 36 games. It was her 18th 20-point performance this season.
• Of her 11 rebounds, Adams grabbed eight offensive boards which match her season high
• Tyra White reached double figures for the 21st time this season, including four straight.
• Sydney Colson matched a career-high with six rebounds.
• Sydney Carter was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line which marks the 14th time this season she has shot 100 percent from the charity stripe.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gary Blair
On the game…
“It wasn’t a very pretty ball game. It was frustrating at times because they were going from a zone to a man on the first pass and we were not having players run the offense well. The guards kept shooting the ball and sometimes you’re open for a reason and that’s what happened in the second half. When you’re outside shot is not going, find something else you can do to help your team and don’t let your offense hurt your defense. The road does funny things to you, but we’ll take the win and get better. Texas played a great second half. She (Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors) must have had a great half-time speech.”
On the 10-game winning streak against Texas…
“When you start talking double digits, that is something to be very proud of it. When the streak started, we were not a rival to Texas because they had won so many in-a-row, but they’ve always been a rival to us. We have to find a way to sustain that. My staff has worked so hard since we’ve been here, in recruiting, camps, clinics and everything else we do and this is one of the returns of our hard work. ”
SENIOR FORWARD/CENTER Danielle Adams
On her performance…
“I was just playing my game. I had a couple fade-away jumpers that didn’t go in so I knew I had to take it to the rim and I was pretty successful at it.”
On when Ashley Gayle was out of the game…
“It feels a lot different. She’s there to block shots and alter shots and when I had the Nash’s on me I didn’t feel like there was anyone who could stop me. With Gayle being out, that was our advantage.”
SENIOR GUARD Sydney Colson
On coming away with a win…
“If we hadn’t been hitting our free throws down the stretch it could have been a different outcome. I’m happy that we came away with the win. We haven’t lost to Texas since I’ve been here, so that’s something to be proud of. (This win) was a big deal for us because we were at nine (straight wins) and once you get up in the double digits it’s a sense of motivation to keep going after them the same every time. It will affect our program in the future and we’ll keep building on more wins.”