Eagle Staff Writer
Members of the USA Basketball Women's National Team were kind to the Texas A&M women before their exhibition game, presenting the Aggies with their Big 12 championship rings and posing with them for pictures.
USA guard Diana Taurasi seemed to get into the spirit at evening's end, yelling "Horns Down" and pointing the University of Texas symbol toward the floor as she left the postgame press conference.
In between, the No. 1 team in the world crushed the 11th-ranked college team in the nation 75-24 before a crowd of 3,751 at Reed Arena on Sunday night.
"I haven't gotten beat like that before in my life," A&M coach Gary Blair said. "It wouldn't matter whether we were playing the Dallas Mavericks or the U.S. Olympic team, we expect more."
Team USA is off to a 6-0 start on its college tour, which is part of the Americans' preparations for next year's Olympic Games in Beijing. The biggest blowout in the first five games was a 34-point whipping of Arizona State, and the closest game was an 11-point win over Tennessee.
A&M fans got a chance to see one of the best post players in the history of women's basketball in Lisa Leslie, and two of the most accomplished guards of recent years in Taurasi and Sue Bird. They also got a look at a suffocating USA defense that turned the Aggies into the gang that couldn't shoot straight.
The Aggies missed 53 of their 64 shots, connecting on only 17 percent. A&M misfired on 19 consecutive shots late in the first half, a staggering stretch that included four air balls and three blocked shots.
Freshman guard Sydney Colson stopped the madness 18 seconds before intermission when her fast-break jumper hit the back of the rim, bounced high and came down through the net.
"Defensively we were pretty sharp," Team USA coach Anne Donovan said.
A&M guards Takia Starks and A'Quoneshia Franklin were hounded by Taurasi and Bird, combining to make 2 of 22 shots, including an 0-for-9 night by Franklin.
The Aggies' inside players were out of their comfort zone against the USA front line that included 6-foot-5 center Leslie, 6-6 forward Kara Braxton and 6-1 forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin. The forwards collected five blocks apiece, and the national team had 14 overall.
"My offense, I didn't like a thing about it," Blair said. "It was a clinic. That's why they are No. 1 in the world. But we're a better basketball team than we gave our fans tonight."
Appropriately on Veteran's Day, the star of the show in the early going was Leslie, a three-time Olympic gold medalist who has rejoined the national team after having a baby in June. Leslie scored 17 points before leaving the game for good early in the second half after an unintentional blow to the stomach.
Danielle Gant was A&M's leading scorer with nine points, shooting 4 of 13. Gant allowed the Aggies to score on consecutive possessions for the first time when she hit a jumper with 13 minutes, 20 seconds left in the game.
Gant had two baskets during a 7-2 spurt that qualified as the Aggies' biggest run. Team USA responded by making five consecutive shots and 12 of its last 18.
• Larry Bowen's e-mail address is larry.bowen@theeagle.com.
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