College Station, Texas ? Texas A&M coach Gary Blair hopes Saturday’s victory over ninth-ranked Baylor is just the beginning of big things to come for the Aggies.
Takia Starks had 12 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 19 Texas A&M beat ninth-ranked Baylor, 60-52, Saturday for the Aggies’ first win over a top-10 team in six seasons.
The Aggies (12-3, 2-1 Big 12) came in 0-26 against ranked opponents in Blair’s four seasons.
“Sure, beating Baylor meant something to me,” Blair said. “We just beat the defending national champion from two years ago. That’s pretty special.
“But we’re trying to build, just like Baylor did. And we’ve still got a long way to go.”
Morenike Atunrase scored 13, and A’Quonesia Franklin sank three three-pointers and added 12 for the Aggies (12-3, 2-1 Big 12), who snapped a 13-game losing streak in the series.
The players seemed giddier than their coach about the significance of the victory.
“This is a confidence-builder here,” said La Toya Micheaux, who had 10 points and seven rebounds. “We came in having the mentality that, ‘We can do this. It’s ours.’
“And now we have the confidence to know we can take it to the top.”
The Aggies beat a ranked team for the first time this season and defeated a top-10 opponent for the first time since an 88-71 win over then-No. 5 Iowa State in January 2002.
Bernice Mosby had 19 points for Baylor (15-3, 2-2).
No. 23 Texas 68, Colorado 49
Austin, Texas – Carla Cortijo had 11 points and seven assists to lead the Longhorns past the Buffaloes.
Cortijo and Erneisha Bailey, who had 15 points, paced the Texas (13-4, 2-1) early, and the Big 12’s leading scorer, Tiffany Jackson, found her groove late, scoring 15 of her 16 points in the second half.
Jackie McFarland led Colorado (8-7, 2-1) with 15 points. But the Buffaloes committed 34 turnovers, which the Longhorns turned into 34 points.
The Longhorns went on runs of 5-0 and 7-0 with less than five minutes to play in the half to head into the locker room up 31-18. Texas scored 16 points off Colorado’s 18 first-half turnovers.
