December 14, 2005
The Texas A&M Aggies (4-2) return to tournament play for the second time this season as they face the Detroit Titans (2-7) in first round action at the Duel in the Desert Saturday at 9:30 p.m. (central) at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas.
It is the first time since December of 1982 that the Aggies will play women?â„¢s basketball in Las Vegas.
The tournament is being hosted by UNLV. Final round action on Sunday evening will pit the Aggies against either the host Rebels (5-2) or Jackson State (2-5).
The Aggies enter the game on a two game winning streak. A&M beat Washington nearly two weeks ago at Reed Arena before beating Sam Houston State last Saturday.
A&M has won 12 straight non-conference games at Reed Arena dating to January of 2004.
Overall, the Aggies have won 16 of their last 20 games away from the Big 12 Conference.
Last season, the Aggies ranked eighth in the Big 12 in scoring offense averaging 64.3 points a game.
In the non-conference slate thus far, A&M has seen an increase in scoring. The Aggies are averaging 77.2 points a game ranking fifth in the league just 2.3 points out of second place.
Four Aggies are scoring double-digits this season. Sophomore Morenike Atunrase, last year?â„¢s Big 12 Freshman of the Year, leads the team at 14.3 points, while freshman Danielle Gant is second at 11.0 points. Senior Tamea Scales is third at 10.8 and freshman Takia Starks is fourth at 10.2 points.
Gant leads the way for the Aggies in shooting at 60 percent. Gant has scored double-digits in two games and no less than seven points in each game.
Gant was named to the All-Tournament Team in Hawaii after she scored 14 points against Cal State-Northridge, and 19 points against No. 17 DePaul.
The Aggies have been successful this season in blocking shots. A&M blocked a Big 12 Conference record 18 shots in the season opener which marked the second most in NCAA history. The squad followed that effort with 12 blocks against Cal State-Northridge in the first round of the tournament in Hawaii.
The Aggies rank among the leaders in the NCAA in blocks per game at 8.0.
The Aggies?â„¢ roster is composed of 73 percent of players in their first or second year in the program.
Last season, the freshman class accounted for 53 percent of the team?â„¢s scoring and played in 52 percent of the available minutes.
Morenike Atunrase, the Big 12 Freshman of the Year last season, blocked 16 shots in the first six games (2.6 average). She now has 73 career blocks to rank sixth all-time at A&M. At 5-foot-10, Atunrase is shorter than all five players who rank ahead of her. She blocked a school record 57 shots last season.
Senior forward Tamea Scales has quiety been recording consistently impressive numbers. Scales, who moved to the four position this season from the five position last season is averaging 10.8 points and a team-best 7.2 rebounds. She has pulled down 25 offensive rebounds to rank second in the Big 12 in per game average at 4.2.
Scales has double-digits in four of six games and two double-doubles.
Starks has earned a start in the last three games and has made the most of the experience.
She scored 25 points as a first time starter at point guard against Washington. Starks is averaging 12.7 points over the last three games.