January 03, 2006
The Texas A&M Aggies (11-2, 0-0) begin Big 12 Conference play by hosting the Oklahoma State Cowgirls (6-5, 0-0) Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at Reed Arena.
Tickets for all home games through January 4 are half-price. Contact the Athletic Ticket Office for details at 979-845-2311 or online at AggieAthletics.com.
A&M has won nine straight games since returning from Hawaii in November. The streak is the second longest in school history and matches the nine-game streak set last season. The longest winning streak is 11 games set in the 1974-75 season.
The Aggies have won three straight over the Cowgirls, including the last two seasons at Reed Arena.
A&M Coach Gary Blair holds a 10-5 career record against Oklahoma State.
Currently, A&M is No. 39 in CollegeRPI.com and No. 33 in the Sagarin Ratings.
The Aggies share the Big 12 lead with Kansas in terms of overall wins with 11.
For the second straight season, the Aggies enter the Big 12 home opener with a perfect non-conference home record. A&M is 8-0 at Reed Arena this season.
In Big 12 home openers at Reed Arena, the Aggies are 2-5 and have dropped the last three home conference tip-offs.
A&M enters the game after beating Rice, 65-64, on Monday at Reed Arena. Sophomore A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin scored 16 of her career-high 21 points in the second half.
It marked the 17th straight non-conference win at Reed Arena for the Aggies dating to January of 2004. It is the longest streak in school history regardless of games played at Reed Arena or the Aggies?â„¢ previous home G. Rollie White Coliseum. A&M last won 16 straight non-conference games at home in the late 80s.
Overall, it marked the 23rd win for A&M in its last 27 games (.851) away from the Big 12 Conference.
A&M?â„¢s defense has been a major factor in the team?â„¢s success this season.
The Aggies are second in the Big 12 Conference in scoring defense at 56.1 points allowed per game. A&M leads the league in steals per game at 11.69, and turnover margin at +10.92. The Aggies are second in blocks at 6.77.
Last season, the Aggies ranked eighth in the Big 12 in scoring offense averaging 64.3 points a game.
In the non-conference slate, A&M saw an increase in scoring. The Aggies are averaging 76.0 points a game ranking fifth in the league just 1.5 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 12.2 points, while freshman Takia Starks is second at 11.3 points a game. Freshman Danielle Gant is third at 10.9 and senior Tamea Scales is fourth at 10.1 points.
Gant leads the way for the Aggies in shooting at 63 percent. Gant has scored double-digits in seven games and no less than seven points in each game. She has started in one game this season and is usually the first player off the bench for the Aggies.
Starks is a two-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week and with Gant, the two average 23+ minutes of playing time. Starks has started in 8 of 13 games and has seen playing time at point guard.
Scales has quiety been recording consistently impressive numbers. Her consistency was rewarded in Las Vegas when she was named the Duel in the Desert?â„¢s Most Valuable Player. Scales, who moved to the four position this season from the five position last season is averaging 10.1 points and a team-best 6.4 rebounds. She has pulled down 48 offensive rebounds to rank fourth in the Big 12 in per game average at 3.69.
Scales has double-digits in eight of the last 12 games and three double-doubles. Scales recorded her third double-double of the season with a career-best 21 points and 11 rebounds against Utah State.
She also leads the team in charges taken with 13. As a team, the Aggies have drawn 40 charges this season.
The Aggies?â„¢ roster is composed of 73 percent of players in their first or second year in the program.
Atunrase has blocked 28 shots this season (2.2 average). She now has 85 career blocks to rank fourth all-time at A&M. At 5-foot-10, Atunrase is shorter than all three players who rank ahead of her. She blocked a school record 57 shots last season and needs five blocks to move into third place all-time at the school.