Adams leads Aggies over Trojans

With a player like Danielle Adams, No. 8 Texas A&M figured going inside would be the best way to win.

Coach Gary Blair and the Aggies were right.

Adams had 24 points and 10 rebounds and the Aggies got an easy 87-41 win over Arkansas-Little Rock on Tuesday night.

Texas A&M dominated in the paint behind the performance of Adams and outscored the Trojans 56-10 in that area.

''Coach Blair just wanted to pound the ball inside and see if they could adjust to it,'' Adams said.

Blair likes that his plan to go inside worked Tuesday, but knows the Aggies won't be able to rely so heavily on scoring inside as the season progresses.

''We're going to have to get those guards back shooting the ball better from the perimeter and they really struggled with that particularly in the first half,'' he said.

Adams, last year's Big 12 conference newcomer of the year, had 20 points by halftime in the season-opener for the Aggies. It was the third double-double at Texas A&M for Adams, who transferred from Jefferson College before last season after being named junior college player of the year.

Arkansas-Little Rock coach Joe Foley was impressed with Adams.

''I love the way the kid plays,'' he said. ''She's got great moves, she's got great footwork and great hands. That's what makes a team. Anytime you can score in the paint like they do, that makes a great basketball team.''

The Aggies led by 21 at halftime and outscored Arkansas-Little Rock 7-2 in the opening minutes of the second half to stretch the lead to 48-21. A 17-1 run later in the second half extended Texas A&M's lead to 69-26.

Arkansas-Little Rock (1-1) was led by Chastity Reed who had 17 points.

Adams and most of the other Texas A&M starters went to the bench with about 10 minutes remaining.

Blair has enjoyed watching the 6-foot-1 Adams develop as a player since joining the team before last season.

''She plays with so much poise,'' Blair said. ''She scores easy. A lot of post players it takes them too many moves and they don't know how to score easy or use their body.''

Texas A&M outrebounded Arkansas-Little Rock 47-23 and had just 12 turnovers to the 24 committed by the Trojans.

Highly rated recruit Karla Gilbert, who is 6-foot-5, made her debut for Texas A&M and had 12 points and four rebounds in 14 minutes.

''Once we got her over her jitters in the first couple of minutes she just makes things happens,'' Blair said.

Maryann Baker added a career-high 10 points for Texas A&M and three players added eight points apiece.

Arkansas-Little Rock, which made its first appearance in the NCAA tournament last season, opened its season Friday with a 76-51 win over Davidson.

The game was tied at 2 before Texas A&M went on a 14-1 run to take a 16-3 lead with 14 minutes remaining in the first half. Adams scored seven of her 20 first half points in that span.

The Aggies were ahead by 14 points later in the first half before scoring six straight points to push the lead to 34-14 about four minutes before halftime.

Texas A&M was without point guard Sydney Colson, who has a sore foot and is day to day.