A&M women fall to Kansas State
Staff and wire report
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Texas A&M has a knack for bringing out the best in the Kansas State Wildcats.
KSU junior guard Mariah White dribbled through traffic and banked in a shot with 1.6 seconds left in to give KSU a 71-69 overtime victory over the Aggies in a Big 12 women's basketball opener Wednesday night at Bramlage Coliseum before 2,871 fans.
"I just dribbled around," White said. "Nobody was open so I had no one to throw it to. I just said, 'Dear Lord, help me with this shot.' I just threw up the shot, and it went in."
It was a tough ending for A&M (9-3) which had an 11-point lead when sophomore post Kelsey Bone scored on a layup to open the second half, but the Wildcats came storming back behind junior guard Brittany Chambers who scored 14 of her game-high 21 points in the second half.
Chambers had a career-high 35 points in last season's 71-67 victory over the Aggies, also at Bramlage where A&M is 2-7.
Chambers scored six during a 15-3 run that gave Kansas State a 40-39 lead. A&M hit 1 of 7 shots and had four turnovers during the five-minute stretch.
"I think that's where we kind of lost the game," A&M senior guard Sydney Carter said. "We couldn't seem to capitalize and we just turned the ball over way too much."
KSU shot a blistering 66.7 percent from the field -- 10 of 15. A&M shot 41.8 percent from the field for the game, but the defending national champs were only 10 of 19 at the free-throw line.
"This team has been playing like this for a long time," A&M head coach Gary Blair said. "We have to respond. Getting to the Final Four [or] getting to the NCAA Tournament is not very much in our reach right now until we learn to play better and smarter."
The game was tied 14 times and there were eight lead changes, but KSU improved to 3-0 against A&M in Big 12 openers as Tasha Dickey had 17 points and Jalana Childs added 16. Dickey, however, fouled out with 1:41 left in regulation.
"I'm extremely proud of our basketball team," Kansas State coach Deb Patterson said. "I think we lined up against one of America's finest programs tonight and fought extremely hard from the tip to the finish."
White added 12 points, 11 assists, five rebounds, three steals and a block, and she played the entire second half.
"You have to give Mariah White a lot of credit and not just for the last shot," Blair said. "She is a driver. When everything was taken away, she puts the ball on the floor and we allowed her to get side-by-side and the kid just made a play."
Patterson credited White's growth in her junior season.
"She makes that huge shot, but leads the night with 11 assists," Patterson said. "It's amazing. Last year she was a sophomore who hadn't played much at all and was still learning. This year she is just light years ahead."
A&M's Tyra White also played the entire second half as she scored 10 of her 17 points. Carter added 16, and Bone chipped in 14 points and 10 rebounds. Carter, who missed the McNeese State game with a foot injury, played 43 minutes.
The Wildcats held a 47-46 lead with 10:33 to go after Mariah White hit a layup, but both defenses stepped up the pressure and there were only six combined points scored until 4:10 remained.
Both teams traded baskets in overtime and the game was tied 63-all with 2:03 left after Bone scored in the paint.
K-State turned the ball over after a timeout but received a break when the Aggies turned it over on the other end. Still, KSU couldn't find the basket and with 49 seconds left, Texas A&M's Adaora Elonu got a steal.
The Wildcats responded, though, and a loose ball ended up a steal for KSU's Ashia Woods. With Woods on the ground trying to secure the ball, K-State took a timeout with 24 seconds to go.
After the pause, White found an open lane in the paint and touched it off the glass for the winning score.
"The balance is what propelled us to the victory tonight," Patterson said. "I thought we were terrific in sharing the ball. We had people who stepped up and who wanted the responsibility to make and finish plays."