College Station, Texas Charlette Castile led three Texas A&M players into double figures with 18 points and the Aggies scored 26 points off 20 Tulsa turnovers to down the Golden Hurricane, 73-62, at Reed Arena in the first round of the 2005 Sportsview.tv Womens National Invitation Tournament.
Tulsa closed out the season with a 19-11 record and tied the school mark for the most wins in one season. The Hurricane also won 19 games a year ago and has produced 38 wins and back-to-back postseason WNIT appearances over the past two seasons.
TU sophomore Jillian Robbins turned in a monster outing in the season finale with game highs of 28 points, 19 rebounds and three blocked shots. Robbins connected on 12 of 17 field goal attempts, which is the second-most in a single game at Tulsa. She tallied 23 points and 14 rebounds in the second period and was the only Hurricane player to reach double figures. The 19 rebounds rank second on the schools single game list.
Although Tulsa scored the first field goal of the game, the Hurricane never got on track. Texas A&Ms full-court defense smothered the Tulsa attack all night. After falling behind 2-0 to start the game, the Aggies reeled off a 9-0 run behind three straight three-pointers. TU rallied to tied the game at 11-11 on a jumper from junior Megan Moody, but Castile, who nailed 2-of-3 treys to help Texas A&M get off to a good start, broke free for a lay-up that gave her team the lead for good with 10:30 remaining in the first half.
A&Ms quick guards hounded TU into constant mistakes, and Tulsa committed 14 turnovers in the first half. The Aggies used a 14-4 run to lead by as many as 11 points in the opening period before the Hurricane chipped the lead down to six points at halftime. Tulsa managed just eight field goals in the first half and shot 30-percent, while the Aggies made 10 field goals, including four three-pointers, and shot 31.3 percent.
Robbins dominated the second half for Tulsa, but the Hurricane defense could not slow the aggressive Aggies. The two teams basically traded baskets during the final period until TU was forced to foul in the closing minutes. Tulsa hit 50-percent of its field goal attempts, but managed just 7-of-14 from the free-throw line and was 0-of-5 from behind the arc.
Texas A&M shot 46.4 percent in the second half and nailed three treys, but more importantly converted 17 of 28 free throw attempts for 60.7 percent. A&M outscored TU, 46-41, in the second period and produced 12 points off turnovers.
Along with Castile, Tamea Scales came off the bench and was 7-of-7 from the field and finished with 17 points, while AQuonesia Franklin added 11 points and 10 assists. Erica Roy led the Aggies with 12 rebounds.
Tulsa out-rebounded Texas A&M, 50-42, and outscored the Aggies in the paint, 44-22. TU shot 41.7 percent from the field for the game, while A&M was 38.3 percent. The Hurricane is now 0-2 all-time in the postseason WNIT.