College Station, Texas - Cory Montgomery scored a game-high 15 points, but No. 10 Texas A&M played suffocating defense on its way to an 86-43 women's basketball win at Reed Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Nebraska slipped to 10-12 overall and 1-8 in the Big 12, while Texas A&M improved to 18-4 and 6-3 in the league. Texas A&M forced a season-high 27 turnovers by the Huskers and converted them into 20 points. The Aggies held NU to just 46 field goal attempts and just 13 made field goals on their way to the victory.
Texas A&M, which entered the game as one of the nation's top defenses, holding opponents to less than 55 points per game and 35 percent shooting from the field, limited the Huskers to just 28.3 percent shooting, including just 1-of-12 shooting from three-point range. NU was a perfect 16-for-16 at the free throw line.
Montgomery finished as the only Husker in double figures with 15 points and a team-high six rebounds, while hitting 7-of-14 shots from the field. The rest of the Huskers combined to go 6-for-32 from the floor. Nebraska's 43-point loss tied for the second-largest margin of defeat in school history.
The Aggies' defense created easy opportunities for them throughout the day, as A&M hit 61 percent (36-59) of its shots from the field, including 3-of-6 three-pointers. A&M also hit 11-of-17 free throws, while outrebounding NU, 33-26. The Huskers went just 5-for-21 from the field and pulled down just eight rebounds in the second half against the Aggies.
Sydney Carter and Takia Starks led A&M with 13 points, while Tanisha Smith pitched in 11 points for Texas A&M. Ten Aggies scored in the game, as the A&M bench outscored the NU bench 47-4 on the afternoon. Only five Huskers found the scoring column on the day, including eight points from Yvonne Turner and seven points from Catheryn Redmon.
Nebraska got out to a solid start, scoring the game's first four points and shooting to a 6-2 lead with 15:55 left in the first half. Sydney Colson then sparked a Texas A&M 10-0 run with suffocating perimeter defense that resulted in a transition layup for Colson and a pair of baskets for Starks.
The Huskers went five minutes without scoring and only managed three field goal attempts during A&M's run, before Turner stopped the surge with a layup to pull NU within 12-8 with 10:55 left. After a steal and layup by Colson, Montgomery hit a jumper to keep the Huskers within 14-10 before Adaora Elonu scored the Aggies' first basket of the game in their halfcourt offense with 9:08 left in the half.
Montgomery then hit another jumper before a Colson three-pointer helped spark another A&M surge. The Aggies took their first double-digit lead on a three-point play from Carter with 3:57 left in the half, and carried a 40-25 lead into the locker room.
Montgomery led NU with 11 points and six rebounds in the first half. Montgomery went 5-for-8 from the field, but was the only Husker to hit more than one shot from the field in the first 20 minutes. Turner added six points, four rebounds and two first-half assists, while Dominique Kelley and Redmon each contributed four first-half points.
The Aggies put 10 players in the scoring column in the first half, led by Colson's nine points and five steals. A&M hit 18-of-33 shots from the field, including 2-of-3 three-point attempts, while forcing 15 NU turnovers. Texas A&M scored 14 points off those turnovers.
The Huskers hit just 8-of-25 field-goal attempts, including an 0-for-5 effort from long range. NU was a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line, and outrebounded the Aggies, 18-15, in the opening period. Nebraska also forced seven A&M turnovers, but managed just four points off the Aggie miscues.
Texas A&M outscored Nebraska, 12-0, on fastbreak points in the first half, and the Aggie bench outproduced the Husker bench, 19-0, in the first half.
The Huskers will enjoy a mid-week bye in Big 12 action this week before returning to the Devaney Center on Saturday, Feb. 14, to take on Big 12 South foe Texas Tech. Tip-off between the Huskers and Lady Raiders on Valentine's Day is set for 12:05 p.m. with live national television coverage on Fox Sports Net.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Texas A&M 2/08/09 2:00 PM at Reed Arena - College Station, Texas
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 10-12, 1-8 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 05 Burke, Kaitlyn...... * 1-3 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 19 22 Turner, Yvonne...... * 1-5 0-3 6-6 2 2 4 3 8 3 7 0 1 32 24 Kelley, Dominique... * 2-6 0-1 2-2 0 3 3 2 6 2 7 0 0 27 40 Montgomery, Cory.... * 7-14 0-2 1-1 4 2 6 1 15 0 5 0 0 31 44 Redmon, Catheryn.... * 2-7 0-0 3-3 1 3 4 3 7 0 0 0 0 30 11 Neals, Nicole....... 0-2 0-2 0-0 1 1 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 7 13 Kuhlmann, Kala...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 2 0 0 14 15 Whittaker, Monique.. 0-2 0-1 4-4 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 5 21 Sidhu, Harleen...... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 7 32 Hester, Tay......... 0-5 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 5 0 2 4 0 1 16 35 Periago, Jessica.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 12 TEAM................ 1 2 3 Totals.............. 13-46 1-12 16-16 11 15 26 21 43 11 28 0 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-25 32.0% 2nd Half: 5-21 23.8% Game: 28.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-5 0.0% 2nd Half: 1-7 14.3% Game: 8.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 9-9 100 % 2nd Half: 7-7 100 % Game: 100 % 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Texas A&M 18-4, 6-3 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 03 Starks, Takia....... * 6-11 0-2 1-2 2 2 4 3 13 1 2 0 1 25 12 Micheaux, La Toya... * 1-5 0-0 0-2 1 4 5 0 2 4 2 0 0 25 21 Elonu, Adaora....... * 3-6 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 6 0 3 0 2 17 51 Colson, Sydney...... * 4-6 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 3 9 1 2 1 5 16 55 Gant, Danielle...... * 3-6 0-0 3-4 4 1 5 3 9 4 2 1 3 32 01 Finstad, Kiley...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 02 Buchanan, Damitria.. 4-6 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 1 8 0 0 0 0 11 04 Carter, Sydney...... 4-4 1-1 4-5 2 4 6 0 13 2 1 0 1 20 15 Baker, Maryann...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 20 White, Tyra......... 4-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 8 0 0 0 0 13 22 Smith, Tanisha...... 4-7 1-2 2-2 1 2 3 1 11 2 0 2 0 19 25 Collins, Skylar..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 40 Assarian, Kelsey.... 3-3 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 1 7 1 1 0 1 11 44 Limbaha, Katrina.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 5 TEAM................ 2 2 Totals.............. 36-59 3-6 11-17 11 22 33 20 86 17 13 5 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-33 54.5% 2nd Half: 18-26 69.2% Game: 61.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 1-3 33.3% Game: 50.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 9-12 75.0% Game: 64.7% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Jesse Dickerson, Maj Forsberg and Bill Larance Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Texas A&M-None. Attendance: 4468 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 25 18 - 43 Texas A&M..................... 40 46 - 86