Defending champion Texas A&M beats Albany 69-47

First Posted:

Texas A&M’s Tyra White, top right, goes up to shot over Arkansas defenders during the first half of an NCAA tournament first-round college basketball game on Saturday, March 17, 2012, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

(AP) Tyra White had started 97 straight games before missing the last three with a foot injury.

On Saturday, the Texas A&M star looked like her old self, scoring 18 points with seven rebounds to lead the defending national champion Aggies to a 69-47 win over Albany in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

She got going early, scoring 12 points in the first half, and added four points and a steal in a decisive second-half run.

The Great Danes had scored six straight points to tie it early in the second half before A&M used a 17-4 run to take a 49-36 lead with about 13 minutes remaining.

Albany had three turnovers and missed three layups in that span. Alexia Standish had two 3-pointers and Sydney Carter hit one during A&M’s spurt.

The third-seeded Aggies (23-10) were making their school-record seventh straight tournament appearance and hosting games for the first time since 1994. It was the first NCAA appearance for No. 14 seed Albany, which got an automatic bid by winning the America East tournament.

The Great Danes, who moved to Division I in 1999, won 10 straight games to get into the tournament and hadn’t lost since Jan. 28.

Ebone Henry had 14 points and nine rebounds and Julie Forster added eight points and 12 rebounds for Albany (23-10), which won 20 games for the first time since jumping to Division I.

Standish, a freshman, had 12 points all on 3-pointers for A&M and Adaora Elonu chipped in 13 points and three steals.

The victory sets up Monday’s game with sixth-seeded Arkansas, where Gary Blair coached before coming to A&M. The Razorbacks knocked off Dayton in the first game in College Station on Saturday.

The Great Danes’ 24 turnovers were just one off a season high, and the Aggies turned those miscues into 29 points. That scoring helped offset Albany’s dominance of the boards, where it outrebounded A&M 48-33.

Albany started 6-foot-8 freshman Megan Craig for just the second time this season in an attempt to deal with Texas A&M’s size. She finished with nine points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

The Great Danes didn’t look like tournament rookies, leading early and staying with the Aggies for the entire first half. Texas A&M led 30-26 at the break.