While the rest of you were calculating RPIs and popping bubbles this weekend, Candice Wiggins, Shan Foster and Mark Turgeon’s confounding Aggies were busy breaking scoring records — or in Texas A&M’s case, a record for not scoring. UWIRE affiliates fill us in:
Wiggins breaks Leslie’s Pac-10 career scoring record
Wyndam Makowsky, The Stanford Daily
STANFORD, Calif. — As time wound down in the first half of Sunday’s 74-52 win at Washington State, Stanford senior guard Candice Wiggins dribbled the baseline, avoided a defender and hit a reverse layup, drawing a foul in the process.
With that basket, Wiggins broke Lisa Leslie’s Pacific-10 Conference career scoring record.
“I think it’s a great accomplishment,” said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer. “We’re all really happy for her. It could not happen to a better person, a better basketball player, a better leader.”
The hype surrounding the occasion had been building for weeks, ever since Wiggins broke Kate Starbird’s Stanford career scoring record against Southern California in late January and supporters realized that Leslie’s mark was in reach.
“This feat has been looming for a while,” said Wiggins. “I’m very happy.”
Wiggins entered the weekend series against WSU and Washington needing 37 points to break Leslie’s record. She finished with 46, and now has 2,424 points for her career, 10 more than Leslie. She’ll be able to add to her total in the Pac-10 Tournament next weekend, and the NCAA Tournament later in the month.
Foster becomes Vanderbilt’s all-time leading scorer
David Rutz, The Vanderbilt Hustler
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — With a deep, contested 3-pointer from the corner, senior Shan Foster cemented himself as a Vanderbilt legend.
Foster scored 22 points in Saturday’s 78-73 loss at Arkansas to pass Matt Freije as the all-time leading scorer in Commodores history, giving him 1,895 career points.
It was fitting that the record-breaking shot was as difficult as it was. Foster has made a living sinking shots that most people wouldn’t even attempt, let alone make.
Also fitting was how clutch the shot was. With his team down by four points, Foster nailed the 3 from deep in the corner with 1:39 left, temporarily deflating what was a loud and boisterous crowd at Arkansas’ Bud Walton Arena.
“The one was so far down in the corner, he was in the cheerleaders down there,” Razorbacks coach John Pelphrey said.
Aggies endure record-long scoring drought
Corey DeMoss, The Oklahoma Daily
NORMAN, Okla. — Coming off its two worst offensive performances of the season, Oklahoma had a record-setting defensive afternoon on its way to a 64-37 win over Texas A&M on Saturday.
With 12:51 remaining in the first half, Texas A&M scored to take a 10-9 lead. It was the last time in the game the Aggies would lead, and the last time in the first half they would score.
The Sooner defense shut the Aggies down, holding them to 10 points in the first half, a Big 12 Conference record.
In that half, the Aggies shot 19 percent from the field and were 0-of-10 from three-point range, nearly outscored by senior Longar Longar alone, who registered 9 points.
The Aggies finally made another basket at the 16:40 mark in the second half, ending a 24-point Sooner run.
The Sooners held the Aggies scoreless for a total of 16:12, a NCAA record since the advent of the shot clock in 1986. The previous record was 13:53, set by Utah State against Idaho in 2006.
The Aggies entered the game unranked for the first time all year despite being ranked as high as No. 9 in the nation previously in the season. They had not scored less than 50 in any game this season.
“I can’t believe the way we played,” said A&M coach Mark Turgeon. “We had some guys with a deer-in-the-headlights look. It’s too late in the season for that. I can’t explain it. This team has just wore me out trying to figure them out.”