• Roster
• |
• Schedule/Results
• |
• Stats
• |
• News
• |
• Archives

Jan. 28, 2009

Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Historically, the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry is heavily lopsided in the Longhorns' favor. The times are definitely changing.

Takia Starks scored 21 of her 26 points in the second half to lead No. 11 Texas A&M to a surprisingly one-sided 68-54 win over the No. 16 Longhorns on Wednesday night, the Aggies' sixth win in the last seven meetings.

The Aggies have just 16 victories in the rivalry, which dates back to 1975, but now have won four in a row. This one came with a fast start, a heavy dose of defense and the hot-shooting Starks.

"She was just flat on fire," Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said. "I'm going to love this win, love the win and feel very lucky."

The Aggies raced to a 19-3 lead in the first half before the Longhorns fought their way back to within six in the final minute. A layup, a steal and a fastbreak basket at the buzzer put A&M up 38-28 at halftime.

Starks took over in the second half, scoring seven of the Aggies' first nine points as A&M quickly pushed the lead to 20. The Longhorns never threatened again.

"She single-handedly took it to us," said second-year Texas coach Gail Goestenkors, who has yet to beat the Aggies. "That was tough for us and we were just trying to play catch-up the rest of the way."

Starks had help. LaToya Micheaux grabbed 16 rebounds and Tanisha Smith scored 12 points for the Aggies (16-3, 4-2 Big 12), who shot 48 percent from the floor and outrebounded Texas 41-33.

"No one was putting a body on me, so I just decided to be a beast," Micheaux said.

Kathleen Nash scored 13 points to lead Texas (14-5, 2-3). The Longhorns forced 23 turnovers by the Aggies, but shot just 32 percent and went 17 of 32 from the free throw line. The Longhorns came in the game shooting 75 percent from the line.

Texas A&M made 7 of its first 10 shots while the Longhorns' guards were struggling to dribble and pass against the Aggies' aggressive defenders. Midway through the first half, Texas had nine turnovers and just four field goals.

The Longhorns scrapped their way back in the game when the Aggies started getting sloppy. Texas pulled within 34-28 before momentum quickly changed. The Aggies got a fast-break layup by Danielle Gant and another at the buzzer after Sydney Colson ripped a steal at midcourt and cruised in for the basket.

In the second half, Starks kept pumping in the points and the Longhorns couldn't do anything to stop her from driving to the basket or squirming into open space for jumpers. Even when the Longhorns had a hand in her face, she made shots.

Three more baskets by Sparks and a short jumper by Gant off a nifty pass over a Texas defender in the paint put A&M up 55-35 with 10 minutes to play.

"The second half has been my half the whole season," Starks said. "I come out aggressive and basically adapt to the defense."

Texas started the season 11-0, but the rugged Big 12 has been a tough dose of reality. The Longhorns have lost two in a row and face a tough road trip to No. 4 Baylor on Sunday.

"This league is not for sissies," Goestenkors said. "It's survival of the fittest. You've got to be mentally and physically tough."

POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
· Texas is now 58-16 all-time against Texas A&M
· UT is 3-2 this season against ranked teams and 9-10 under second-year head coach Gail Goestenkors.
· Texas ended its 11-game home winning streak ... The Horns are 403-69 all-time at home and 77-49 against ranked opponents on their home court.
· Texas scored its first basket at the 16:12 mark in the first half with a jumper by Carla Cortijo.
· After committing 14 turnovers in the first half, UT cut that number to five in the second half.
· Texas A&M shot 62.5 percent (9-of-14) from 3-point range, a season high for a Texas opponent.
· Texas shot a season-low 31.5 percent from the field.

Kathleen Nash
· Posted team-high 13 points (3-of-11 FG, 2-of-6 3FG, 5-of-7 FT).
· Reached double-figure scoring for the 15th time this season and 26th time of her career.
· Led the Longhorns in scoring for the fourth time this season and 21st time of her career.

Carla Cortijo
· Dished out two assists, moving her into a tie for sixth place for most career assists in Texas history with 444.

Ashley Lindsey
· Tallied three blocks, moving her into second place for most career blocks in UT history with 223.

Yvonne Anderson
· Scored 10 points (2-of-3 FG, 6-of-8 FT) for her highest scoring effort since she posted 10 at Florida Atlantic (Nov. 30).
· Reached double-digits for the fourth time of her career.
· Six free throws made, tied career high.

Brittainey Raven
· Logged nine rebounds, tying the career high she set vs. UT-Arlington (Dec. 2, 2008).
· Led the Horns in rebounding for the second time this season and the fifth time of her career.

TEXAS QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gail Goestenkors
Opening statement: It was just a very frustrating game for us. Congratulations to A&M. I thought they came in really ready to play and took it to us early, and kind of got us back on our heels. Instead of being the aggressor, we were in reactionary mode, and we don't play as well that way. I am proud of the way we battled back, but then they went on another run to end the half, so that kind of took the wind out of our sails a little bit. In the second half, Takia Starks is just a tremendous player, and I thought she single-handedly took it to us. That was tough for us and we were just trying to play catch-up the rest of the way. It was a very frustrating evening I think for all of us.

On why Texas is getting out-rebounded: We're not committed enough to rebounding the basketball right now. It's something we've got to do a better job with. Our post players have not rebounded well in the last two games, so we've got to do a better job down low in particular.

On the reason for the Longhorns' poor free throw shooting tonight: I don't know. We shot free throws at Oklahoma pretty well, but in practice we have not been shooting the ball well. We've been putting in some extra time on our free throws, but for some reason it just seems like it's been contagious.

On how Texas cut the lead from 16 to six in the first half: I thought our defensive intensity was good at that point. We were putting really good pressure I thought on their perimeter players and which cause them to turn the ball over a little bit, so we were able to get some transition buckets.

On how tough it is to play in the Big 12: You've got to be mentally and physically tough. It's survival of the fittest. You don't have time to feel sorry for yourself or lick your wounds because you've got another great opponent right around the corner. You've got learn from your mistakes and quickly move on and get better.

SENIOR GUARD Carla Cortijo
On the importance of A&M's two baskets at the end of the first half: Our transition defense wasn't very good this game. They were getting the ball out quick and pushing the ball all the way from our basket to their basket. We weren't communicating and that hurt us a lot.

On facing A&M's stingy defense: They were putting a lot of pressure on us. For me, when the guard was putting pressure on me, it was hard to pass the ball because she was all over me. It's hard to play teams like that.

SOPHOMORE Kathleen Nash
On how the team has learned from recent losses: I think we've learned that we need to win the next game. We have to put this loss behind us and learn from it, and just come out the next game and play our best.

On whether UT's opponents are that much better or if the Horns are just going through a tough stretch: I wouldn't say they're that much better. We have been having good practices. We're playing tough against each other, but we just need transfer it over to the court when we get into the game.

FRESHMAN GUARD Ashleigh Fontenette
On A&M's defensive pressure: Their pressure was really good. Like Carla said, we were trying to get the people open, but we were barely able to see them with the pressure on the point guard.

TEXAS A&M QUOTES
HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
Opening statement: I would like to commend the Texas crowd. They did not get on their team. I cannot remember going to a place where they applauded the opponents when they were introduced before the ballgame. I thought that was very classy. But this is always one of my favorite places to play, just because it meant so much to me and my high school career. It was a hard fought ball game, like it usually is. Tanish Smith is not afraid to take a couple of early shots. We did a great job on shot selection tonight. I'm not happy with the turnovers, but I respect Texas' defense because they are always stripping the ball. They are very good at that. They are always in the passing lanes. But, Takia Starks was just flat on fire. She was able to get her shot off against the shorter defenders.

On their transition game tonight: I wanted to play faster, both on offense and defense. When we run our set plays, everybody knows our set plays and it takes perfect execution to make them work. What would win the game tonight were the broken plays coming from both teams. Texas was able to get a couple of second shots, but the broken plays are where you are able to score.

SENIOR GUARD TAKIA STARKS
On her second half: In the past couple of games, I had been starting off kind of slow in the first half, and it kind of went that way a little bit. Tonight, I did a lot more in the first half than I did in the last couple of games. The second half has been my half this whole season. I come out more aggressive and just basically adapt to the defense.

On what Coach Blair told her at halftime: Coach told me that he was going to run me off of screens, and when I get the ball, he told me to create my own shot if I didn't have one. That's what I tried to do, but I have to get better from the free-throw line.

SOPHOMORE GUARD SYDNEY COLSON
On the team's fast start: We just felt that we needed to come out with a burst of energy in the beginning. We came out against Baylor and Oklahoma State with a lot of passion and fire, and it seemed to help us out in the end. We were getting excited over shots and we got our bench into the game. It's really important for us to get good starts on the road, because it's tough to play on the road, especially at Texas, to get a lead.

On their intense defense: Before Baylor and Oklahoma State, we hadn't been as intense on defense as we have been in the past, and we knew that was something we had to get back to. We got a lot of fire and energy off of the turnovers we were getting and we converted better than we had in the past few games. I just think it gave us a tremendous spark and helped us finish the game out well and get the "W."

SENIOR CENTER LA TOYA MICHEAUX
On setting a career high in rebounds: We've been working on rebounding in practice, and I didn't even realize that I had 16 of them tonight. With the way Takia and Tanisha [Smith] shooting, I was just going out there and playing hard. No one was putting a body on me, so I just decided to be a beast. I just came out to work hard, and my teammates know that when they're falling, I'm there to pick them up.