By ROBERT CESSNA
The high-scoring offense that helped the Texas A&M women's basketball team open the season by winning 14 of 15 games has returned just in time for the postseason.
The 15th-ranked Aggies blasted the 11th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners 78-55 on Tuesday night at Reed Arena before 5,205 fans, taking control midway through the first half and not letting the Sooners get closer than 13 points in the second half.
The Aggies (21-7, 9-6 Big 12) moved a half game ahead of Baylor (21-7, 8-6), Oklahoma State (20-8, 8-6) and Texas (19-9, 8-6) in the battle for fourth place, the last bye spot for next week's Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. The Sooners dropped a half game back of second place Iowa State (22-5, 10-4).
The Aggies will close the regular season Saturday at Kansas (15-12, 5-9), looking to build on a victory over a team that had won five of its last seven with the lone losses to top-ranked Connecticut and third-ranked Nebraska. The Aggies beat the Sooners (20-9, 10-5) worse than either of those undefeated teams did.
"The good thing about this win is that [the Sooners] were playing their best basketball in the year, very similar to how Texas came in here having won six in a row," A&M head coach Gary Blair said.
A&M was led in scoring by Tanisha Smith's 19 points. Smith, one of the team's three seniors honored before the game on Senior Night, scored 13 first-half points in leading the Aggies to a 43-24 lead. But it was a pair of sophomores -- Adaora Elonu and Sydney Carter -- who gave the offense balance.
Elonu, a 6-foot-1 forward, had 17 points and 10 rebounds -- her first double-double. Her play inside, along with a 17-foot jumper, keyed an 11-2 run that pushed A&M's lead to 29-18.
"I'm just hoping Adaora is coming into her own now, because when she can hit that mid-range shot that can really stretch the defense," Blair said.
Elonu had a career-high 21 points in a 95-61 victory at Colorado on Saturday.
"In the games before, I was thinking too much and not really reading what the defense was giving me," Elonu said. "I am playing more relaxed."
Another person who looked calm was Carter, who helped A&M close out the first half on a 10-0 run. She hit a 12-foot jumper before sandwiching a Smith bucket with a pair of 3-pointers off fast breaks. She hadn't scored a point until that run.
"We're at our best when we're runnin'," Blair said.
Carter, starting for the ninth time in the last 10 games, had 13 points and a career-high seven assists with no turnovers.
"I think she's getting more comfortable at the point," Blair said.
Her play allows Sydney Colson, who started the season at the point guard spot, to come off the bench and supply instant offense. Colson, who missed four games with a stress reaction on her left tibula, had eight points and two assists in 16 minutes.
Danielle Adams, the league's preseason newcomer of the year, added 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
"We were physical inside and outside with them," Adams said. "We were consistent on our shots, contested their shots and played great defense."
Adams and Elonu helped A&M hold a 40-39 rebounding edge on a team that outrebounded them by 14 in the first meeting.
"It was a very physical game and we didn't handle that very well," said OU head coach Sherri Coale, who lost her fifth straight at Reed Arena. "Bottom line is we have to be tougher. We know what we are going to get when we come here. We have to respond better."
A&M also forced 21 turnovers and held OU to 29.8-percent shooting from the field, including 0 for 8 on 3-pointers. A&M had a 17-6 edge in fast-break points and a 27-10 edge in bench points.
It was much like A&M's 14-1 start to the season when the Aggies averaged 82.8 points per game, which was fourth in the country. But in the next 11 games the Aggies averaged only 56.6 points per game, losing six times starting with a 74-65 loss at OU.
A&M's offense shot a blistering 63.6 percent at Colorado on Saturday, with five players scoring in double figures.
The Aggies continued that against the Sooners, shooting 50 percent from the floor in the first half despite missing their first three shots.
"It really felt good," Blair said. "We were playing the No. 11 team in the country. The Colorado game was nice, but Colorado didn't play well. We played extremely well.
"[Tonight], we made some very, very good decisions. The loose balls -- we were coming up with them. We took it took them early."
A&M's aggressiveness led to OU's Amanda Thompson and Abi Olajuwon each getting into foul trouble. They combined for only six points and three rebounds in 22 minutes as the Aggies took advantage of OU's reserves.
Oklahoma's Nyeshia Stevenson and Danielle Robinson, who combined for 44 points the last time the two teams met, combined to miss 23 of 30 shots. They each had five turnovers.
"I think when you make shots, it gives you life," Coale said. "When you miss them, then they take them away."
The closest OU got in the second half was when Robinson scored on a fast break to make it 56-43 with 10 minutes, 22 seconds left.
The Aggies missed three shots, but the Sooners immediately turned it over. A&M almost did the same but forced a jump ball with only 15 seconds remaining on the shot clock. A&M wasn't even across midcourt yet, but Smith took the inbounds pass and threw a baseball pass to Colson in front of the Aggie bench. Colson hit a 3-pointer to bring the crowd to its feet.
Robinson then turned the ball over and Colson fed Adams for a layup. Colson then scored off her own steal to make it 64-43.
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NOTES -- Starting center Damitria Buchanan and injured reserve forward Katrina Limbaha were the other seniors honored. Smith and Buchanan left to standing ovations and got hugs from Blair. ... A hoarse Blair, who has been under the weather, addressed the crowd afterward, thanking them for their support and urging them to come to Kansas City for the Big 12 Tournament to support the Aggie men and women.
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