Ags blast Sooners to set up Big 12 final against No. 1 Baylor

BOX SCORE: LINK


KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A&M head coach Gary Blair was noticeably emotional during the post-game press conference as he commented on his team grinding and finding a way to reach the Big 12 Tournament finals for an unprecedented fifth straight year.

The Aggies got the job done by dismantling the Oklahoma Sooners, 79-66, Friday at Municipal Auditorium. The victory sets up a final against top-ranked and top-seeded Baylor for the third time in four years.

A&M continued its hot play on the offensive end, shooting the ball at a 47.4 percent clip from the field and connecting on 45.5 percent (5-of-11) from three-point range. The Aggies also got to the stripe 25 times, knocking down 20 free throws (80 percent).

Four Ags scored in double figures, led by Kelsey Bone's 16 points … 14 of which came in the second half. Skylar Collins netted 10 first half points and finished with 15 in the game. Alexia Standish added 13 points and three assists. Sydney Carter posted 10 points and three dimes.

Kristi Bellock did not play in the first half but came off the bench to dominate in the final 15 minutes, scoring six points and pulling down eight rebounds, with five boards coming on the offensive end.

The Sooners shot 37.7 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from beyond the arc. OU was 20-of-22 (90.9 percent) at the stripe.

A&M was plus-11 on the glass and outscored the Sooners 32-16 in the paint.

The Aggies took a 40-35 lead into the locker room at halftime, thanks to continued sharp shooting on the offensive end. A&M fired at a 53.6 percent clip from the field and shot 57.1 percent (4-of-7) from three-point range. The Ags made six of their eight free throw attempts as well.

Collins gave A&M a huge lift in the first half, netting 12 first half points while shooting 4-of-6 from the field and 2-of-4 from downtown. She hit back-to-back threes midway through the period to kick start an 8-0 run that allowed the Ags to turn a 17-17 tie into an eight-point A&M lead, 25-17.

In the second half, it was the Bone show. She scored five points during an early-half 8-0 run the helped the Ags build their lead up to 12, 57-45, after Oklahoma cut it to four shortly after the under-16:00 timeout, 49-45.

From there, it was smooth sailing and the Aggies cruised to a 13-point victory.

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Texas A&M post-game quotes

Head Coach Gary Blair

Opening statement...

"First, another big ballgame for Big 12 and for the nation to watch it. You saw some very, very good guard play on both teams early in the ballgame. Whitney Hand is just a load. She's such a good player and such a smart player. And she's got the whole game. But we're so proud of my team. Again, we were without Tyra White, and we used that 12th man thing; who is going to step up and be the 12th man for us this time.

"Tonight it was a little bit of everything. Collins had to go in. She had the hard task the majority of the time guarding Hand. But Hand had the task of guarding her, too. And that was a career high for Skylar. She did a heck of a job hitting those big 3s in that left corner. But she's been waiting her turn patiently. A lot of times seniors, when they never become starters, their lip hits the ground and they're never able to do it. Skylar, what was the statement above the dressing room door that I had you read out?"

Collins: "It was a quote by Serena Williams and it said, 'Luck has nothing to
do with it. Because of the many, many hours, the countless hours that I've put in to get to this moment.'"

Blair: "To be able to seize the moment and get the moment.  It was right above our board there, Serena Williams' comment. And she's waited patiently. Graduated three years, been working on her master's. It was her time. Tomorrow it might be somebody else. Look at what Bellock did on the offensive boards in the second half. Every time they had a chance to come back, she cleaned them up. Look at what Bone did in the second half after — she's got teammates to thank and to rest her. Karla played very well in there and Cierra did as well. But, again, I'm getting good point guard play. When you get good point guard play and she plays with a confidence, they were not leaving her as many open looks, because we shot them out of the zone early that they were in and, I think, we executed 4 out of 5 possessions against a zone and they had to go back to man, and I thought we were very patient.

"Really didn't turn the ball over until the end. But I don't know what we have left for tomorrow. But we're going to leave this Big 12 conference as champions, whether we're defending champions or whether we're competing for a championship, and that's the message I'm going to give to my kids tomorrow to play, because I believe we are champions. And I'm pleased with the effort and how hard we played. I was pleased with how hard Oklahoma played. We always have great games. But, hey, it's yours."

On how Tyra White felt today and her status going forward...

"What Tyra White has done has been very special. She's going to be a winner whether she plays or not. We'll have to see once we put it — put the tennis shoe on. This morning it was hurting too bad. It was still too much pain. And why risk an NCAA championship? And our bench is stepping up. Opportunity comes. And I'm just proud of my team. I'm proud
of my coaching staff. I'd love for her to play, but unless she looks better, we will not use our shootaround in the morning since we're playing breakfast at Wimbledon or whatever we're doing here tomorrow.

"But it's going to be a late night for coaches and early morning for our team, because when you have to do pregame at seven in the morning, that's not great right there. So I don't know. Tell you the truth, I do not know."

On how the Aggies slowed things down defensively...

"I think Coach Schaefer got into them about the responsibility that they had. When we switched to zone for a few possessions, they missed about three 3s that they normally hit. That gave us confidence. And then we converted on the other end, and sometimes that's what happens, but they hit 3, White open 3s that all three of them missed. And we tried to mix and match, because my lineup, we were going in and out. We were just trying to play who was hot. But other than that, when you play a tournament like this, you cannot press. We wouldn't have anything left for whatever. I think we pressed in about three possessions totally ineffective. But Coach Schaefer, just do your job, that's what he preaches to the kids. Skylar quit being beat by Hand as much as she was in the first half.

"We place a great help in defense. But when they penetrate and drive, they're not looking to score, they're looking to throw the 3 ball. And that's what they were so good at in the first half. And I think they still 6 out of 17. I'd love to get to the Final Four by giving up the most 3s in the history of basketball. And we've given them up this year."

On his thoughts after the first seven seconds of the game...

"Here it comes again. Somebody got beat on penetration. I'm not sure who it was. I thought it was Carter. But she's not admitting to it. So somebody got beat. Bone tried to take the charge. And she's not Meesha (phonetic) in there that took a lot of charges. But that's how we operate. We protect the basket. And I do not mind that foul as much as I allow the penetration. The second foul, by offensive foul, I thought it was a flop. But D thought it was a different way. And she sold it very well, and give her credit.

"We had a Final Four-officiating crew. Probably between the three of them, I know Scott said 15, D said about 15, and Lisa's had about 12. So think of how many Final Fours they've had. That was probably the best crew you could possibly have. So I didn't have a problem at all really with the second foul except that I thought she flopped it a little."

On his success against Oklahoma in Big 12 Tournament games...

"The respect I have for Oklahoma, the respect I have for Sherri, the athletes she recruits. I get up for playing Sherri and Oklahoma. That's going to be one of the rivalries that I'll miss more than anything in the Big 12 is going against Sherri. I mean, my God, she outdresses me every time. She looks better than I ever have, and she's got Whitney Hand over there. Everything about Oklahoma I like.  And I'm tired of them coming down taking all our football players away, okay? They need to stay across that border.

"No, Oklahoma plays a wide-open offensive game. They're known for their offense. They're known for their 3s in transition. They're known for their quick hitters that they do. Their double screens. I thought we did a decent job on Ellenberg tonight. She hit 5 out of 11. But sometimes that kid can go off for 30 in a minute. But Karla was on her. So whatever she earns, Carter is always going to be on the other team's best player."

"I remember Jody Conradt's best compliment that she gave us when she had to go against our defense. Her last year she said she'd rather go to the dentist and have a root canal. And I thought that was a great compliment to what we did defensively. She was as good today as I've ever seen her. The 15-footers were just money in the bank. It was just like Hakeem or Wilt shooting over everybody, because you cannot get up there with her. But do you see how hard she moves without the ball? I've never seen a kid that can play 40 minutes and not sweat. And she doesn't sweat. She just plays hard. She's good for our game.

"What are we going to do? The last time we played her pretty good. It depends on how long our post players can stay in there, and it also depends on how the game is going to be called. Are they going to let us bump and grind a little bit, because it's a championship game, are they going to call the nitty-picky things. But what we've got to do, we've got to earn our fouls. You have to earn them. Don't help them out by making any cheap
fouls. You cannot forget about Odyssey, and Destiny Williams is probably the best offensive rebounder in this game, because all she has to do is go to the boards every time Brittney shoots. And usually she takes it out of the net. But she's a great offensive rebounder.  We've got to free our shooters up. Hayden and Madden do not get the credit that they should get, because they're taller wings. They're 5'11'', 6', and it's hard for us to get Carter and Standish open against them. 

"I'm more worried about us scoring against Baylor right now. I'm more worried about us scoring. We've gotta do a good job like we did at our place about a week ago. So let's think about Oklahoma right now, that it's going to be a long night. Breakfast with us tomorrow. Y'all come. Randy?This is the way it should end. The two top teams should be playing each other, and this is the way it should end. And I think the committee will finally agree that these two teams should not have to be in the same region. Last year it worked to our advantage. This year I would rather go see Colson in Poland than go to Baylor's region again. But tomorrow we're looking forward to the opportunity. We're on house money now; let's just play relaxed and go and see who can come off my bench and be the next star."


G Skylar Collins

On her start and difficulty getting the teamrolling early...

"I wouldn't say my start was too hot. Coach Blair wasn't happy with me the first couple of minutes in the game, made some stupid mistakes. Pulled me out pretty quick. When he put me back in, that's when I settled down and got into the flow of the offense and played hard on the defensive end and just did whatever the team needed me to do at that point."

On whether her taking the open shot was part of the game plan...

"I'm pretty sure that wasn't the game plan at all. I'm pretty sure when I took that first shot Coach Blair was probably about to lose his mind until it went through the net, and then he calmed down. So I was feeling it. I shot it and prayed for the best." 

On the program's consistency, making a fifth straight Big 12 title game...

"Well, Coach Schaefer always preaches to us it's not what we do but it's how we do it. And this program is built around an aggressive defense that's going to get out and pressure the ball and deny the wings. And I think that makes a lot of teams uncomfortable. And I think that's where our success has been. And it's always started on the defensive end for us. And I think that's why we've been able to compete at the levels that we're competing at."


F Kelsey Bone

On what was working in the second half...

"I just knew that Coach Blair at halftime told me to just attack. He told me whoever was in front of me, it didn't matter, just attack. Maryann was on the bench and she kept staying in my ear, telling me, hey, you can score. At any time you want, when choose to, you can score. So I think I was a lot more aggressive than I've been the past few games. So I think that aggression just kind of carried over. And if a shot went up and it didn't go in, I had a teammate to pick it up and get the rebound and put it back in, and I think that's when we really got rolling."

On the team's third game against Baylor...

"You know, it's a great rivalry. So anytime we can go up against them, we're going to have fun with it. It's our last game in the Big 12. It's our seniors' last game in the Big 12. It's everybody's last game in the Big 12. So I think tomorrow's going to be a battle. They're a great team. It would mean a lot to us to beat them, but we're going to come out and we're going to have our game plan ready that our coaches are going to give us, and we're going to execute it to the best of our ability."


G Alexia Standish

On how her role differed from yesterday's and what she accomplished...

"I think yesterday the shots were open, and so I got to take the shots today. The shots weren't really there for me.  So I had to play the point guard role of just being a leader and telling my team what to do and where to be and just encouraging and being motivating and just getting — so that was more my role today in the game."

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Post-game notes

* For the first time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Alexia Standish, Sydney Carter, Skylar Collins, Adaora Elonu and Kelsey Bone.

* Texas A&M moves to 20-27 in the all-time series with Texas A&M. The Aggies have won seven of the last eight meetings between the two rivals.

* The Aggies are 4-2 when playing OU in the Big 12 Championship and have faced the Sooners in the tournament each of the last three years.

* The Aggies move to 5-2 all-time in the semifinals, 3-1 against the No. 2 seed and 15-13 overall in all Big 12 Championship games.

* The Aggies are 8-5 on national TV this season.

* The Aggies are 11-2 this season when four or more players score double figures.

* The Aggies are 15-1 when scoring over 70 points this season.

* The Aggies are 18-2 when leading at the half.

* A&M took advantage of 16 OU miscues, outscoring the Sooners 17-8 off turnovers.

* A&M dominated down low, doubling up OU’s points in the paint, 32-16.

* For just the fifth time this season and 2nd straight game, A&M made five 3-pointers.

* Collins had a first-half career-best 10 points on the way to a career-high 15.

* Bellock’s eight rebounds were a career-best and she added 6 points and two assists in just 13 minutes of action.

* Standish continues her hot streak from 3-point range going 13-18 (.722) in the last five games.

* Bone scored in double figures for the 23rd time this season, Carter for the 19th, Standish for the fourth and Collins for the third time.