November 30, 2006
Off to one of its best starts in school history, the undefeated No. 10/10-ranked Texas A&M women?â„¢s basketball team (6-0) begins a tough two-game road swing. The Aggies?â„¢ first road obstacle will be in the form of Rice (4-2) on Friday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. in Houston, Texas. In fact, three of the team?â„¢s opponents in their next six-game stretch advanced to postseason play a year ago including the Owls. A win against Rice would give A&M its best-ever start in school history having previously won a program-best six-straight games to open up the 1977-78 season. The Rice game will precede a much-anticipated rematch at Washington (3-2) on Wednesday, Dec. 6 in Seattle.
A VIEW OF THE OWLS
Rice is 4-2 on the season with a double-overtime win over Ole Miss (92-91) on Nov. 17 and several high-scoring affairs against Monmouth (76-45) on Nov. 10, Rider (92-57) on Nov. 12 and Sam Houston (91-48) on Nov. 27. The Owls are averaging 77.3 points per game and have beaten opponents by an average margin of 14.7 points. Three players are averaging double figures in the scoring column including non-starter Maudess Fulton at 10.5 ppg. Senior forward Lauren Neaves is averaging a near double-double with a team-leading 18.5 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Last year, the Owls advanced to the WNIT Second Round (lost to Indiana) and posted an 18-14 overall record. They went on to finish second in Conference USA play. The Owls are the third opponent on this year?â„¢s slate tabbed as preseason favorites to win their conference title along with Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2006-07 Stats)
#10 A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin, G, 5-3, Jr. (4.3 ppg, 6.7 apg)
#3 Takia Starks, G, 5-8, So. (14.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg)
#21 Morenike Atunrase, G/F, 5-10, Jr. (18.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
#24 Patrice Reado, F, 6-0, Jr. (8.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg)
#12 La Toya Micheaux, C, 6-3, So. (6.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg)
RICE
No. Name (2006-07 Stats)
#04 Kadie Riverin, G, 5-9, Jr. (11.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg)
#23 Krystal Frazier, G, 5-8, Sr. (5.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg)
#12 Samantha Stovall, F, 6-0, Sr. (7.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
#13 Lauren Neaves, F, 6-2, Sr. (18.5 ppg, 9.7 rpg)
#20 Emery Carter, C, 6-1, So. (6.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
SERIES HISTORY
Texas A&M leads 27-9 in the all-time series versus Rice which dates all the way back to 1975. Last year, the Aggies erased a two-game losing skid against the Owls in the series with a one-point victory at home (65-64) on Jan. 2, 2006. Prior to last year?â„¢s meeting, both schools had not faced each other since a 60-57 A&M loss to Rice on Jan. 3, 2000 in Houston. A&M will be looking for two in a row against Rice for the first time since the 1995-96 season, when both schools were members of the old Southwest Conference. They are 11-8 all-time when playing Rice on the road in Houston. Meanwhile, A&M head coach Gary Blair holds a 4-1 all-time career record versus the Owls.
LAST TIME OUT
In the last meeting between the two schools, A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin scored a career-high 21 points to lead Texas A&M past Rice, 65-64, on Jan. 2, 2006 at Reed Arena. Franklin scored 16 of her points in the second half of play. The Owls led by as many as seven points in the first half and 35-34 at halftime. Rice?â„¢s Lauren Neaves turned in a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds. A&M started the second half on a 15-7 run as it regained the lead, 49-42. Rice later put together an 8-2 run to tighten the Aggies?â„¢ lead to 57-55 with 5:37 left on the clock. Both teams suffered a scoring drought in a stretch of more than six minutes late in the second half. Rice stopped its streak with 2:17 to play, when Krystal Frazier drained a bucket to pull the Owls within one, 58-57. Franklin then ended A&M?â„¢s drought with a jumper from the right side to make the score 60-57 at the two-minute mark. A jumper by Takia Starks on the next possession gave A&M a 62-57 advantage. Following a pair of free throws by Kadie Raven, Starks lost the ball on the break and Frazier drained a jumper from the left side to make A&M?â„¢s lead 62-61 with 59 seconds remaining in regulation. Franklin went to the line and drained two free throws with 25 seconds to play to push the Aggie lead to 64-61. A three-point attempt by Frazier from the left wing was missed and rebounded by A&M?â„¢s Patrice Reado. Franklin went back to the free throw line with six seconds to play and hit the front end of a one-and-one. Rice took the rebound and Samantha Stovall hit a three-pointer at the buzzer. For the game, Franklin shot 6-of-10 from the floor and went 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. She added four assists and two steals.
HOUSTON HOMECOMING
It will be a homecoming to the Houston area for four players on the A&M roster including junior Patrice Reado (Madision HS), sophomore Takia Starks (Westfield HS), sophomore La Toya Micheaux (Hightower HS) and freshman Damitria Buchanan (Jones HS). In fact, the Houstonians on the squad combine for 41 percent of A&M?â„¢s scoring production and 43 percent of its rebounding. It will mark the first time each Houston Aggie has played in front of their hometown crowd since their much-heralded playing careers at their respective high schools in the area.
NO NONSENSE IN NON-CONFERENCE
In the Gary Blair Era (2003-Present), the Aggies have gone an impressive 34-8 in non-conference play and have won their last 15-straight non-conference contests (home, away and neutral) since a 79-65 victory over Washington on Dec. 4, 2005. Overall, the Aggies have won 34 of their last 42 games (.810) away from Big 12 Conference competition.
BLAIR ERA NON-CONFERENCE RECORDS
2006-07: 6-0 (1.000)
2005-06: 12-3 (.800)
2004-05: 9-1 (.900)
2003-04: 7-4 (.636)
AGGIES IN THE RPI
The Aggies are No. 6 in the RPI according to the latest Jeff Sagarin/CBN Women's College Basketball Ratings. A&M is one of 23 NCAA Division I schools and one of three Big 12 Conference schools that remains undefeated. They are also No. 15 in the latest RPI index calculated by CollegeRPI.com as of Nov. 30. Upcoming opponents Rice (137) and Washington (53) are rated among the top 40 percent of all 335 Division I teams in the country.
FRONT AND CENTER
Texas A&M leads the Big 12 in most victories on the season at 6-0 and still tops the league in nine of 19 statistical categories including scoring margin (+34.8), field goal percentage (51.0), scoring defense (43.8), three-point percentage (46.5), three-point percentage defense (22.2), rebounding defense (30.3), assists (23.0), turnover margin (+9.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.31). Individually, junior point guard A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin (Tyler, Texas) leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (5.00) and is one of three Big 12 players to commit nine or less turnovers in six or less games played.
BIG 12 CONFERENCE STANDINGS
1. Texas A&M (6-0, 0-0)
2. Oklahoma (5-0, 0-0)
2. Oklahoma State (5-0, 0-0)
4. Baylor (6-1, 0-0)
4. Nebraska (6-1, 0-0)
4. Texas Tech (6-1, 0-0)
7. Missouri (5-1, 0-0)
7. Texas (5-1, 0-0)
9. Kansas (4-1, 0-0)
9. Kansas State (4-1, 0-0)
11. Iowa State (3-1, 0-0)
12. Colorado (5-2, 0-0)
ARIZONA RECAP
A&M earned its first-ever victory over Arizona in the all-time series with a 66-44 victory Tuesday night at Reed Arena. Takia Starks scored a season-high 20 points and junior All-American candidate Morenike Atunrase (Shreveport, La.) added 18 to the winning cause. La Toya Micheaux also contributed eight points and a season-high nine rebounds against the Wildcats. The Aggies trailed by six early, but pulled away with a 26-5 run in the first half in which Atunrase scored nine-straight baskets and made one of her season-high five blocks of the game. Arizona made just two of its 11 three-point attempts and scored 28 of its 44 points in the paint. A&M outrebounded the Wildcats, 41-32.
AGGIE BLOCK PARTY
All but four Aggies on the 14-player roster have blocked a shot in six games played. A&M is averaging 5.5 blocks per game which is fourth-best in the Big 12. The Aggies are led in the category by junior Morenike Atunrase who has made the second-most blocks in the league (13) to date. She is 10 shy of breaking the all-time school record held by former player Kelly Cerny (137) and has blocked a shot in 46 of her last 50 contests dating back to her freshman campaign in 2004-05.
AGGIE BASKETBALL A TOP 10 HIT
What an exciting time for Aggie Basketball! The A&M women climbed up to two spots to No. 10 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll released Monday. The recent AP selection marks the highest-ever national ranking for A&M. Five of the six Big 12 South schools are ranked in this week?â„¢s poll including No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 13 Baylor, No. 22 Texas and No. 25 Texas Tech. Texas A&M is one of only four schools including Ohio State, North Carolina and Duke with both its men?â„¢s and women?â„¢s basketball teams ranked among the top 10 teams in the country.
SWEET NOVEMBER
For the first time since the 1999-00 season, the Aggies closed out the month of November undefeated with their current 6-0 mark. It marked the first time to do so in the Gary Blair Era and seventh time in school history. A&M also went undefeated in the month of November during the 1977-78 (5-0), 1981-82 (3-0), 1989-90 (4-0), 1993-94 (2-0), 1994-95 (2-0) and 1999-00 (3-0) seasons.