A&M women's basketball team rolls past Texas Tech

Texas Tech got Texas A&M's attention by beating top-ranked Baylor, and the Aggies made the Lady Raiders as miserable Tuesday night as the Lady Bears were Saturday in Lubbock.

Danielle Adams and Tyra White combined for 50 points to lead fifth-ranked A&M to an 84-60 victory over Texas Tech in Big 12 action at Reed Arena before an announced crowd of 5,557.

A&M (23-3, 11-2) pulled within a half game of Baylor (24-2, 11-1), which will play Kansas State on Wednesday. Texas Tech (19-8, 6-7) had a three-game winning streak snapped, which also included a victory over 20th-ranked Iowa State.

A win over A&M would have virtually assured Tech of making the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005, but the Aggies made sure the Lady Raiders had nothing to celebrate, handing the Lady Raiders their worst loss of the season. The previous was A&M's 79-65 victory in Lubbock on Feb. 5.

No one dealt Tech more pain than Adams, who has become a Lady Raider nemesis in only two seasons.

The 6-foot-1 Adams was almost unstoppable against a defense that had limited 6-8 Brittney Griner and Baylor to a season-low 45 points. Adams scored 20 of her game-high 30 points in the first half. The senior hit 8 of 11 field goals and added 10 rebounds to post a double-double by halftime for the first time in her two-year Aggie career.

Her dominance helped A&M to a 36-28 lead even though White, the team's second leading scorer, and senior point guard Sydney Colson were limited to playing only 13 minutes because of foul trouble.

Adams' play left the Red Raiders shaking their head.

"The first half, there were two shots, one bounced twice and went in and one bounced three times and went in," Tech head coach Kristy Curry said. "It was one of those games for her. We have three All-Americans in this league, and she's one of them."

White and Colson returned in the second half and contributed to a 16-4 run, pushing the lead to 52-32 in just over four minutes. Colson had seven points, including a 3-pointer, but Adams made the plays the fans loved.

Colson came up with a steal and passed to Adams who drove for a layup. Tech's Monique Smalls who gave up the basketball fouled Adams, who stood and posed and grinned afterward under the basket.

A&M head coach Gary Blair said he was doing the same thing on the sideline with the bench, high-fiving players as well.

Adams completed the three-point play, then a few possessions later she ended the run with a 3-pointer.

"They don't have that dominating defensive post who can stop her," Blair said. "They try to mix it up with zone and man. Their post players are very good offensively, but Danielle can go inside or outside. She's also got that mid-range game, too. I just think you're looking at one of the all-time best players to play here."

The Lady Raiders know that.

When the two met in Lubbock, Adams scored 22 of her game-high 26 points in the second half. Last season, she had a triple-double -- 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks -- in a 69-54 victory at Reed Arena. Even in A&M's 57-54 loss in Lubbock last season, Adams was solid with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting with nine rebounds.

"There's no particular team that I feel like I can do more against," Adams said. "I just go out and play my game."

Luckily for Tech, Adams didn't attempt a field goal in the final 10 minutes, but she didn't have to. White was dealing pain to the Lady Raiders.

Blair had criticized his team for not giving the ball to White on Saturday night in a 76-67 victory over Oklahoma State. White hit her first three shots, but she didn't shoot again until the second half as the Aggies blew a 16-point lead as White hit only one of her last eight.

This time, she hit 8 of her last 10 shots, including a pair of 3-pointers for 18 points in the second half. White said she cut down on driving, instead pulling up for jumpers she buried time after time.

"I kept calling about every play I had for her in the second half and she just kept knocking them down," Blair said.

White and Adams almost combined to match the 55 points per game the Red Raiders allow which is third best in the Big 12. Colson, who fouled out for the second straight game, played only 20 minutes, but played well with 10 points, five assists and three steals. Freshman post Karla Gilbert started for the second straight game with 10 points, complementing Adams on the low post.

A&M had a sharp night shooting -- 55.4 percent from the floor, including 5 of 8 against a team allowing opponents to make only 29 percent. A&M also hit 17 of 19 free throws.

"I just think our kids were ready today to play defense, the energy was very good on the defensive end, and defense creates offense," Blair said.

Tech struggled to score, hitting some tough shots early to stay close, but A&M's defense took its toll. Tech's starting unit was 5-of-25 shooting with 14 of the team's 20 turnovers.

Forward Kierra Mallard, the team's leading scorer, had four points in 21 minutes. The 6-3 junior had two points in the first meeting. Curry said go figure, Adams has career games against the Red Raiders, and Mallard has her worst games against Tech.

Curry praised A&M several times, but was also disappointed that her team hadn't moved forward.

"We've got to mature and grow to the point where what we did last week can' look big to us," she said. "We've got to learn to be more consistent with our maturity and learn. We've got to put this one behind us. We didn't seem to put the last one behind us very well."

Sophomore guard Chynna Brown came off the bench to lead Tech with 15 points. Senior reserve forward Teena Wickett added 11 as they combined to hit 11 of 18 field goals.