Jon Eilts - THE BATTALION

Rolling to victory

Aggie women's basketball team improves to 8-0

By: Taylor Morgan

Posted: 12/8/08

Texas A&M senior guard Takia Starks' 21 points against Southern Methodist University on Sunday vaulted her to the No. 3 position in career points scored at A&M.

Starks has 1,525 career points and trails career point leader Lisa Branch by 414 points. She set the pace for the Aggies in the 80-48 home win against the Mustangs.

"Tonight I just wanted to go in and be patient with my shot selection," said Starks, who helped the Aggies improve to 8-0 overall, setting a school record.

A&M came out firing in the first half. After falling behind 2-0, the Aggies recovered with a 20-4 run and did not surrender the lead. Sophomore guard Sydney Colson capped the run with a fast break layup with 11:19 remaining in the first half. Starks led A&M with 14 first-half points.

Colson and freshman forward Adaora Elonu led the Aggies' defensive effort in the first half, combining for seven steals. A&M had five blocks and held the Mustangs to 18 points in the first half. With a 25.8 field goal percentage, SMU trailed A&M 43-18 at halftime.

"I've seen a lot of [A&M Head Coach] Gary Blair teams going back to his early days," said Mustangs Head Coach Rhonda Rompola. "This is by far the best team he has put on the floor. Not only are they good, they are quick, big, physical, athletic and have good chemistry."

SMU junior forward Brittany Gilliam was the most productive player on the Mustangs' squad, scoring a team-high 18 points and pulling down eight rebounds.

Junior forward Delisha Wills was second on the team with nine points. Rompola said her team is young and rebuilding.

"We are a team trying to find our identity and our leaders," Rompola said. "This is a learning process for us."

Though SMU made a 15-6 run to start the second half, the Mustangs failed to control Elonu and Starks, who combined for 15 second-half points.

The A&M offense rolled to a 32-point victory. The Mustangs did not come within 25 points of the Aggies in the remainder of the game. A&M posted 15 steals on 26 turnovers with 40 rebounds. Southern Methodist had 38 rebounds and 14 turnovers.

"This has been one of our hardest falls in putting things into place," said A&M Head Coach Gary Blair. "We're not satisfied. We're trying to practice perfect. When you practice perfect, you won't play perfect, but be able to execute and not make many mistakes."