Photo by Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Texas A&M Women's Basketball
* It was predominately the Sims-Griner show from the start. During that early flurry over the first seven minutes, Sims scored eight points and Griner had seven. They were without a doubt the two best players on the floor and were quite honestly, too much for the Aggies to handle. Griner finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks. Sims had 19 points, four boards, three assists and two steals.
And offensively, she's so skilled in the low post and has every move in the book when it comes to scoring the basketball. She's also an extremely good passer. I hate that Brittney goes to Baylor because it would be so much fun to actually root for her and find true enjoyment from watching her play the game.
* And Sims … yeah, she's not bad either. As in first team All-American good. When you have two of the top five players in the country and you're playing at home, there is almost no way you will lose a game.
* Give A&M credit for not quitting after BU had built the early 15-point lead. White led the charge in getting the Aggies off the mat, helping A&M go on a modest 5-2 run to pull back to within 12 points, before Baylor got hot again to take a 40-21 lead into the locker room at halftime. White had 10 first half points and played with very good energy on both ends.
* A&M is still the defending national champions and the team in maroon played like that at the start of the second half. They trailed by 19 points at the break but came out very aggressive out of the chute in the second half. With White and Adaora Elonu leading the charge, the Aggies scored six straight points in the first minute of the period to make it 40-27.
* But of course, it was too little, too late. It didn't take long for the Bears to get rolling once again after a slow start to the second half, and there isn't a team in the nation that can come back from a 19-point deficit against BU … especially inside the Ferrell Center.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Griner's overmatching of Bone (above) turned one of the game's most essential matchups completely in Baylor's favor.
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"Griner\u0027s overmatching of Bone (above) turned one of the game\u0027s most essential matchups completely in Baylor\u0027s favor.","MediaItemID":14909}
* A very good game for White. She finished with 18 points, four rebounds and three steals in a losing effort. Sydney Carter played very well in the second half and never gave up … leading A&M on a nice surge to close the game after it got well out of reach. Carter finished with 13 points and two steals.
Adaora Elonu didn't manage much in the scoring department but pulled down eight offensive rebounds in the contest. She finished with 12 boards to go along with seven points.
* Kelsey Bone really struggled in her rematch against longtime nemesis. Griner held Bone to just four points and four rebounds in 25 minutes. She was 1-of-6 from the field. Bone was simply overmatched, as most thought she would be. Griner is just a notch above and so much more athletic. Just a tough, tough matchup for Bone.
* At this point, I would be surprised if Baylor loses a game this year. They're THAT good. They're definitely "UConn good" and I don't see anyone out there that will be able to contain Sims and Griner. Maybe A&M can keep it close when the series returns to Reed Arena on February 27, but I would be absolutely shocked if the Aggies were able to pull off an upset in that one. I thought it was possible until watching the matchup today and seeing the Ags get absolutely destroyed by a much better, more athletic and more complete basketball team.
* Why am I not talking more about A&M? Well … it isn't like there was a lot that A&M did wrong. This game was not about the Aggies at all. It was about Baylor doing their thing and simply dismantling the maroon and white from start to finish. A&M could do nothing about it and neither can anyone that comes in their path right now.
* At this point, you just hope the Baylor beatdown doesn't ruin A&M's confidence to the point that they have a lingering effect for a game or two. The Aggies are at Missouri next, followed by a home game against OSU. Both very winnable games but also games that could go down to the wire if A&M plays poorly. Gary Blair's squad went into the Baylor game playing very well … they just have to get back on the horse and get back to playing well.
"I don’t sugarcoat it. I said this team is a work in progress and it’s been that way all year. We had won seven of our last eight, but we have growing pains. We’re learning how to play with that Aggie toughness that you have to have. They had a statement game to make. They made their statement and the nation saw it. Give them all the credit in the world. The crowd was special. We appreciate all the Aggies that came and supported us."
On A&M’s Adaora Elonu…
"She’s a very good player for us and we build off of her, but we have to have the easy shots. When they did make mistakes, we were intimidated and short-armed so many shots. Elonu is a solid player, but she has to carry us because she had better chances to score than our perimeter players that couldn’t get open."
On Baylor’s Brittney Griner and what she’s improved on since last year…
"She’s such a good kid and deserves all the accolades that she’s getting. She’s a better free throw shooter, she’s 20 pounds heavier and she’s a lot better on the offensive boards this year. She can play 40 minutes a game every game and she never takes a play off. To me, Griner is the best player that’s ever played the game. A (national championship) ring is about the only thing she lacks on her resume because everything else is there."
Guard Sydney Carter
On Odyssey Sims’ defensive pressure…
"That just shows that we need to work on our ball handling. She’s a good defender and is going to be aggressive, so we have to attack aggression with aggression and take the ball to the basket and look for those dishes. Any time you do get past Odyssey, she’s (Griner) going to be there waiting. We just have to knock down those open shots. In the game we won we were hitting those outside shots."
On what has to happened for A&M the next time the team plays Baylor…
"I think it’s just like I said, we’re going to have to attack their aggressiveness with ours. You can’t be scared when you’re playing a team like Baylor. They’re always going to have that fire when they play us because I think that we have a respect both ways. There’s definitely that respect there, but you just have to attack them and find their holes."
Guard-Forward Tyra White
"They have a 6-8 girl in the middle so it’s kind of hard to attack like we do other teams. After we got in the flow, I think we did a better job of attacking more."
On the sell-out crowd…
"That’s what we play the game for, for crowds like that and to play against the No. 1 team in the country. I wish we could have given more in this game, but hopefully when they come to College Station it will be a better game."
* The Aggies move to 36-48 in the all-time series against Baylor and are now 13-26 when playing the Lady Bears in Waco.
* The Aggies are 5-3 on national TV this season.
* A&M is 0-5 all-time when playing the No. 1 team in the country.
* Texas A&M was held to a season-low 48 points.
* Texas A&M held the advantage in turnovers, 18-14.
* White has now started in 81 straight games, a streak that started on Jan. 4, 2010 against Lamar.
* White has now scored in double figures 28 of her last 31 games.
* Carter scored double figures for the 14th time this season.
* Elonu grabbed a career-best eight offensive rebounds and a season-high 12 total boards.
* Karla Gilbert added five rebounds.
WBB Snippets: Baylor 71, Texas A&M 48
Post-game snippets
* This one was pretty much over before it started. Baylor, playing in front of an inspired and sold out crowd at Ferrell Center, built a massive 17-2 lead over the first seven minutes of the game en route to a 71-48 blowout victory over Texas A&M Saturday in Waco. With the loss, A&M falls to 17-6 overall and 8-4 in Big 12 play. Baylor is remains undefeated at 25-0 … 12-0 in the league.* It was predominately the Sims-Griner show from the start. During that early flurry over the first seven minutes, Sims scored eight points and Griner had seven. They were without a doubt the two best players on the floor and were quite honestly, too much for the Aggies to handle. Griner finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks. Sims had 19 points, four boards, three assists and two steals.
Griner can do things that no other women's basketball player has ever been able to do. She's a one-man zone on defense and blocks everything in her zip code.
{"Module":"quote","Alignment":"right","Quote":"Griner can do things that no other women\u0027s basketball player has ever been able to do. She\u0027s a one-man zone on defense and blocks everything in her zip code.","Author":""}
* It's easy to make fun of Brittney because of her unbelievable size and crazy athleticism, and a lot of people give her a hard time for that. But she is such an amazing player to watch do her thing on the court. Griner can do things that no other women's basketball player has ever been able to do. She's a one-man zone on defense and blocks everything in her zip code. And offensively, she's so skilled in the low post and has every move in the book when it comes to scoring the basketball. She's also an extremely good passer. I hate that Brittney goes to Baylor because it would be so much fun to actually root for her and find true enjoyment from watching her play the game.
* And Sims … yeah, she's not bad either. As in first team All-American good. When you have two of the top five players in the country and you're playing at home, there is almost no way you will lose a game.
* Give A&M credit for not quitting after BU had built the early 15-point lead. White led the charge in getting the Aggies off the mat, helping A&M go on a modest 5-2 run to pull back to within 12 points, before Baylor got hot again to take a 40-21 lead into the locker room at halftime. White had 10 first half points and played with very good energy on both ends.
* A&M is still the defending national champions and the team in maroon played like that at the start of the second half. They trailed by 19 points at the break but came out very aggressive out of the chute in the second half. With White and Adaora Elonu leading the charge, the Aggies scored six straight points in the first minute of the period to make it 40-27.
* But of course, it was too little, too late. It didn't take long for the Bears to get rolling once again after a slow start to the second half, and there isn't a team in the nation that can come back from a 19-point deficit against BU … especially inside the Ferrell Center.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Griner's overmatching of Bone (above) turned one of the game's most essential matchups completely in Baylor's favor.
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"Griner\u0027s overmatching of Bone (above) turned one of the game\u0027s most essential matchups completely in Baylor\u0027s favor.","MediaItemID":14909}
Adaora Elonu didn't manage much in the scoring department but pulled down eight offensive rebounds in the contest. She finished with 12 boards to go along with seven points.
* Kelsey Bone really struggled in her rematch against longtime nemesis. Griner held Bone to just four points and four rebounds in 25 minutes. She was 1-of-6 from the field. Bone was simply overmatched, as most thought she would be. Griner is just a notch above and so much more athletic. Just a tough, tough matchup for Bone.
* At this point, I would be surprised if Baylor loses a game this year. They're THAT good. They're definitely "UConn good" and I don't see anyone out there that will be able to contain Sims and Griner. Maybe A&M can keep it close when the series returns to Reed Arena on February 27, but I would be absolutely shocked if the Aggies were able to pull off an upset in that one. I thought it was possible until watching the matchup today and seeing the Ags get absolutely destroyed by a much better, more athletic and more complete basketball team.
* Why am I not talking more about A&M? Well … it isn't like there was a lot that A&M did wrong. This game was not about the Aggies at all. It was about Baylor doing their thing and simply dismantling the maroon and white from start to finish. A&M could do nothing about it and neither can anyone that comes in their path right now.
* At this point, you just hope the Baylor beatdown doesn't ruin A&M's confidence to the point that they have a lingering effect for a game or two. The Aggies are at Missouri next, followed by a home game against OSU. Both very winnable games but also games that could go down to the wire if A&M plays poorly. Gary Blair's squad went into the Baylor game playing very well … they just have to get back on the horse and get back to playing well.
Post-game quotes
Head Coach Gary Blair
We knew we were going to have trouble inside, everybody does inside, but darn it, we’re human and we still take it in there and get it slapped back to College Station a few times, but we competed.
{"Module":"quote","Alignment":"right","Quote":"We knew we were going to have trouble inside, everybody does inside, but darn it, we’re human and we still take it in there and get it slapped back to College Station a few times, but we competed.","Author":"Gary Blair"}
"Folks, you saw why they are No. 1 in the country. It’s not what they did offensively ... it’s what they did defensively. They made it tough on our wings to get open. With new point guards we couldn’t really get into the sets we wanted to. A lot of that credit goes to their defense. We knew we were going to have trouble inside, everybody does inside, but darn it, we’re human and we still take it in there and get it slapped back to College Station a few times, but we competed. I was proud of our fight that we had in the second half. We came out, hit a few baskets, they made a couple uncharacteristic turnovers and we took advantage of them."I don’t sugarcoat it. I said this team is a work in progress and it’s been that way all year. We had won seven of our last eight, but we have growing pains. We’re learning how to play with that Aggie toughness that you have to have. They had a statement game to make. They made their statement and the nation saw it. Give them all the credit in the world. The crowd was special. We appreciate all the Aggies that came and supported us."
On A&M’s Adaora Elonu…
"She’s a very good player for us and we build off of her, but we have to have the easy shots. When they did make mistakes, we were intimidated and short-armed so many shots. Elonu is a solid player, but she has to carry us because she had better chances to score than our perimeter players that couldn’t get open."
On Baylor’s Brittney Griner and what she’s improved on since last year…
"She’s such a good kid and deserves all the accolades that she’s getting. She’s a better free throw shooter, she’s 20 pounds heavier and she’s a lot better on the offensive boards this year. She can play 40 minutes a game every game and she never takes a play off. To me, Griner is the best player that’s ever played the game. A (national championship) ring is about the only thing she lacks on her resume because everything else is there."
Guard Sydney Carter
On Odyssey Sims’ defensive pressure…
"That just shows that we need to work on our ball handling. She’s a good defender and is going to be aggressive, so we have to attack aggression with aggression and take the ball to the basket and look for those dishes. Any time you do get past Odyssey, she’s (Griner) going to be there waiting. We just have to knock down those open shots. In the game we won we were hitting those outside shots."
On what has to happened for A&M the next time the team plays Baylor…
"I think it’s just like I said, we’re going to have to attack their aggressiveness with ours. You can’t be scared when you’re playing a team like Baylor. They’re always going to have that fire when they play us because I think that we have a respect both ways. There’s definitely that respect there, but you just have to attack them and find their holes."
Guard-Forward Tyra White
That's why we play the game. ... I wish we could have given more in this game, but hopefully when they come to College Station it will be a better game.
{"Module":"quote","Alignment":"right","Quote":"That\u0027s why we play the game. ... I wish we could have given more in this game, but hopefully when they come to College Station it will be a better game.","Author":"Tyra White"}
On what’s different defensively about Baylor…"They have a 6-8 girl in the middle so it’s kind of hard to attack like we do other teams. After we got in the flow, I think we did a better job of attacking more."
On the sell-out crowd…
"That’s what we play the game for, for crowds like that and to play against the No. 1 team in the country. I wish we could have given more in this game, but hopefully when they come to College Station it will be a better game."
Post-game notes
* For the 11th time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Alexia Standish, Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Kelsey Bone…The Aggies are 8-3 with this starting lineup.* The Aggies move to 36-48 in the all-time series against Baylor and are now 13-26 when playing the Lady Bears in Waco.
* The Aggies are 5-3 on national TV this season.
* A&M is 0-5 all-time when playing the No. 1 team in the country.
* Texas A&M was held to a season-low 48 points.
* Texas A&M held the advantage in turnovers, 18-14.
* White has now started in 81 straight games, a streak that started on Jan. 4, 2010 against Lamar.
* White has now scored in double figures 28 of her last 31 games.
* Carter scored double figures for the 14th time this season.
* Elonu grabbed a career-best eight offensive rebounds and a season-high 12 total boards.
* Karla Gilbert added five rebounds.
Never miss the latest news from TexAgs!
Join our free email list
