By ROBERT CESSNA
The Texas A&M women's basketball team missed a slew of open shots, turned the ball over 17 times against a zone defense and gave up 20 fast-break points. That all mattered little as the 10th-ranked Aggies rolled to a 90-57 victory over the Lamar Lady Cardinals on Monday before an announced crowd of 3,111 at Reed Arena.
A&M awoke to score 10 unanswered points for a 32-20 lead and never looked back. The Aggies (12-1) built the lead to 69-36 midway through the second half and the Lady Cardinals never got within 30.
A&M had a trio of players score in double figures in its nonconference finale. Junior college transfer Danielle Adams, the preseason Big 12 newcomer of the year, had 17 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. Senior Tanisha Smith, last season's Big 12 newcomer of the year, had 15 points, five assists and three assists. Tyra White added 13 points and led the team in rebounding with eight.
"They're really good," said Lamar head coach Larry Tidwell, who has been coaching at the high school or collegiate level in Texas for more than three decades. "They are long, fast and athletic. I've been watching A&M basketball forever and they're the most athletic A&M team I've ever seen and they do play well together."
It didn't look that way early as A&M struggled against Tidwell's 1-2-2 zone defense.
The Aggies missed 16 of their first 19 shots, six of them from point-blank range off offensive rebounds.
"We were open because that's what they were givin' us," A&M head coach Gary Blair said. "We were just missing instead of pinnin' the ball to the basket. We had the size on them, and we should have been more aggressive with our post players on pinnin' 'n finishin'."
The Aggies started doing that, with 6-foot-1 sophomore forward Adaora Elonu coming off the bench to hit four shots in only 5 minutes to help A&M take a 45-29 halftime lead.
The Aggies did a much better job taking it inside in the second half. Adams, who missed 9 of 12 shots in the first half, hit 4 of 7 in only 9 minutes after the break. Sophomore post Kelsey Assarian added two more buckets, giving her a 3-for-3 shooting effort along with eight rebounds.
A&M had a 56-35 edge in rebounding.
"I really liked how we did rebound the basketball," Blair said. "We haven't been a good offensive rebounding team all year and all of a sudden we have 29 of them, but we probably only converted a fourth of them into points."
It was closer to a third, as A&M scored 22 second-chance points but held Lamar to only six as the Aggies had a 52-24 edge in paint points.
Lamar (10-4) was led by Jenna Plumley's 21 points. The 5-4 junior, a transfer from Oklahoma, hit 4 of 8 3-pointers.
"She's a good kid," Blair said. "She was shooting them from a little bit short of Oklahoma a few times. She just knows how to play the game."
Plumley had four assists, but her teammates weren't ready for a couple of her deft passes, which helped explain her seven turnovers. She played a game-high 36 minutes and was applauded by the fans when she was replaced in the final minute.
Plumley helped the Lady Cardinals to a 16-16 tie early with two assists, a 3-pointer and two free throws.
"She's a big-time player, we're very fortunate to have her," Tidwell said.
The Aggies helped Plumley and the Lady Cardinals by not getting back on defense, which led to 10 easy points by Lamar in the first half.
"It wasn't the start we wanted," White said. "As we kind of get going, get the jitters out, we start to pick up our play."
White ended up hitting half her shots to score in double figures for the seventh straight game.
A&M point guards Sydney Colson and Sydney Carter combined for 12 assists, but neither shot well as the Aggies won their 42nd consecutive home nonconference game.
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NOTES -- The Maroon Club is taking a bus to Saturday's game at Texas. Cost is $25 for Maroon Club members and $30 for nonmembers, which includes a game ticket. The bus will leave at 2 p.m. from the Sears parking lot at the Post Oak Mall. The club asks that you arrive at least 15 minutes before departure. Contact Lindsey Bounds at lbounds@athletics.tamu.edu or at 846-3024 by Wednesday to reserve a spot.
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