Despite a rough start, the Texas A&M women's basketball team (17-3, 5-2) came from behind Saturday at Reed Arena to beat the Kansas Jayhawks, 73-60.
"If you're going to be able to play No. 7 on the road, then you better be able to throw two punches, not one," said Kansas Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson. "In this league, you better be able to weather a storm and answer one."
Forward Danielle Gant led the Aggies with 21 points while adding six rebounds and three steals.
Blair said he was proud of his team's performance and gave credit to the play by Kansas.
"Their execution was outstanding," Blair said. "I'd like to credit their offense for taking some tough shots. Kansas just did a great job of playing the game."
With 14:51 remaining in regulation, sophomore point guard Sydney Colson picked up her fourth foul and was forced to the bench. Freshman Sydney Carter replaced Colson to lead the Aggies past the Jayhawks.
"Sydney Carter was huge," Blair said. "Carter had to come in and bail us out like she has before."
Kansas shot 56.4 percent from the field against the Aggies' defense, which ranks at the top of the conference in opponent's field foal percentage. Junior Danielle McCray scored a team-high 24 points and was 8-for-18 from the floor.
"At the beginning, we handled their aggressiveness," McCray said. "We played with poise in the beginning. We executed our plays against whatever they threw at us."
Kansas turned the ball over 26 times, which led to 29 A&M points.
"Transition is our game and I attribute that in the second half to getting a win," said senior guard Takia Starks. "When you're getting steals and getting blocks, that's our bread and butter. If we stick to that, we'll be fine."
Starks hit a 3-pointer with 8:20 remaining to tie former player Lisa Branch with 165 career 3-pointers. Starks is one 3-pointer away from breaking A&M's all-time record for career 3-pointers made.
Early struggles plagued the Aggies and Starks, who started 1-for-6 from the field. Kansas led to 35-29 at halftime.
A&M regained its composure in the second half, but could not regain control of the game from Kansas. Starks' record-tying 3-pointer started an 11-1 run that put A&M on top.
"We didn't panic," Blair said.
Be the first to comment on this article!