Alexia Standish scored a career-high 25 points, including 6 of 9 3-pointers, and third-seeded Texas A&M pulled away late in the second half to handle No. 6 seed Kansas 78-63 on Thursday night, advancing to the Big 12 Women's Championship semifinal.
The Aggies (21-9) scored 11 unanswered points that concluded with 3:24 remaining to transform an eight-point advantage into a 73-54 cushion. Kansas (19-12) would get no closer than 15 for the remainder and lost by the same margin.
Kansas sliced an eight-point deficit to 52-49 with 12:10 remaining on a layup by Aishah Sutherland, but Texas A&M countered with six straight points. The Jayhawks remained within striking distance until the Aggies sparked an 11-0 run six minutes later.
Sydney Carter scored 18 points and Kelsey Bone added 16 for the Aggies; both players grabbed seven rebounds apiece. Adaora Elonu contributed 13 points and five rebounds.
Angel Goodrich led Kansas with 21 points to compliment nine assists.
The Aggies took a 32-30 lead into the locker room, thanks to a 10-3 run to close out the half. Standish scored 8 points in that stretch.
Up next, Texas A&M faces second-seeded Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship semifinals on Friday, March 9 at 2:30 p.m. (CT). The game is televised nationally on FSN.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM NOTES
• For the first time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Alexia Standish, Sydney Carter, Adaora Elonu, Kelsey Assarian and Kelsey Bone.
• A&M improves to 12-7 in the all-time series with Kansas. The Aggies have won the last 11 straight meetings between the two schools.
• The Aggies improve to 1-0 all-time against Kansas in the Big 12 Championship, 7-1 all-time in the quarterfinals, 2-3 against the No. 6 seed and 14-13 overall in all Big 12 Championship games.
• A&M reaches the Big 12 championship semifinals for the seventh consecutive year.
• The Aggies are 7-5 on national TV this season.
• The Aggies’ eight 3-pointers were a season high. In addition, A&M’s five first-half 3-pointers were its most in a half this season.
• A&M shot a season-best 61.5 percent (8-13) from 3-point range, its best since shooting 62.5 percent (5-8) against Texas Tech on Feb. 22, 2011.
• A&M’s 61.5 3-point field goal percent tied for 10th all-time in Big 12 Championship contests, and ranked fourth all-time in second-round games.
• Texas A&M committed eight turnovers, which was a season low.
• The Aggies are 10-2 this season when four or more players score double figures.
• The Aggies are 14-1 when scoring over 70 points this season.
• The Aggies are 17-2 when leading at the half
• Standish’s 25 points were the most scored by a freshman since Stark’s 25 in 2005.
• Standish’s six 3-pointers were the most since Carlette Castile hit six in 2005.
• Standish continues her hot streak from 3-point range going 11-16 (.697) in the last four games.
• Carter’s eight assists were a season high and matched her career-best.
• Bone scored in double figures for the 22nd time this season, Elonu scored for the 20th, Carter for the 18th and Standish for the third.
