January 09, 2007
The No. 19/19-ranked Texas A&M women's basketball team (10-3, 0-1) searches for its first Big 12 Conference win of the season as the Aggies go up against two of their biggest Big 12 South rivals in Texas Tech (10-6, 1-1) on Wednesday, Jan. 10 and ninth-ranked Baylor (15-1, 2-0) on Saturday, Jan. 13. Both schools have given A&M trouble over the years, but none as much as the Lady Raiders have when playing on the road. The Aggies have yet to win a Big 12 game in Lubbock since the league's inception in 1996-97. Tech is one of six league teams still unbeaten at home including A&M (8-0), Iowa State (9-0), Kansas State (8-0), Missouri (9-0) and Oklahoma State (9-0). A&M will look to rewrite history with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. at United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, Texas.
| GAME INFO |
| Wednesday, January 10, 7 p.m. (CST) United Spirit Arena (15,050), Lubbock |
| RECORDS |
| Texas A&M: 10-3, 0-1 Big 12 Texas Tech: 10-6, 1-1 Big 12 |
| RANKINGS |
| A&M is ranked 19th by both The Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today. |
| TELEVISION |
| Texas Tech Television Network (Lubbock, Amarillo only) Drew Dougherty, play-by-play Crystal Boles, commentary |
| LIVE VIDEO |
| None |
| RADIO |
| KZNE-AM 1150 (Local) Tom Turbiville, play-by-play Steve Miller, commentary (broadcast time 6:45 p.m. CST) |
| INTERNET |
| Live Video: None Live Audio (Free): (Aggies All-Access) Live Stats: (texastech.com) |
| SERIES |
| Tech leads, 52-9 Last Meeting: (2/5/06) Last in Lubbock: (1/7/06) |
| UP NEXT |
| A&M hosts #9 Baylor Saturday, Jan. 13, 3:30 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena, College Station Tickets: $1 at door |
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
For the second time in league history, the Aggies will open the Big 12 season with back-to-back road matchups. Ironically, A&M played their second conference game on the road at Texas Tech last season which resulted in a heartbreaking one-point loss (56-55) for the Aggies. Last season, A&M went 3-1 in its first four outings against Big 12 competition with wins over Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Kansas. Previously, the 2001-02 season was the first and only time A&M had commenced league play with back-to-back road games at KU (W, 58-51) and at Nebraska (L, 77-73). The Aggies are 1-4 away from Reed Arena this season picking up their only road win in the championship game of the Loyola Marymount Thanksgiving Classic versus host LMU (77-52) on Nov. 25. A&M has lost its last three-straight road contests at Rice (79-66), Washington (65-59) and Kansas State (48-45).
GET READY FOR DOLLAR DAY
Texas A&M will put its undefeated 8-0 record at Reed Arena to the test as the Aggies host Baylor on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 3:30 p.m. Gather up your friends and family and head to Reed Arena for Dollar Day, presented by Campbell Custom Homes. Dollar Day specials will include tickets and concession items such as hot dogs, popcorn, candy and soda priced at $1 while supplies last. Dollar tickets must be purchased in advance at the Reed Arena Box Office or at Kyle Field Ticket Office. Office hours are Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Reed Arena Box Office will open on Saturday at 10 a.m. Last season, A&M set a new school record at the venue with 11,088 fans in attendance against the Lady Bears.
LADY RAIDERS UP CLOSE
With the retirement of Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Marsha Sharp, the Lady Raiders are poised to rebound from a 15-14 season a year ago under the guidance of first-year head coach Kristy Curry. The highly successful Purdue head coach inherits a storied program which made 16-straight NCAA Tournament appearances prior to the 2005-06 season. Picked to finish tied for seventh in the preseason Big 12 Coaches Poll, Texas Tech returns a veteran starting lineup with seniors Alesha Robertson, Chesley Dabbs and Brooke Baughman. Last week, the Lady Raiders opened Big 12 play with a 61-54 loss at No. 9 Baylor on Jan. 3 and a 75-49 victory over Oklahoma State on Jan. 6. Tech shot 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from three-point range in the OSU game, while Robertson scored a game-high 18 points in the winning cause. She is averaging a team-leading 13.4 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Last year, Dabbs sat out the season due to injury. The Lady Raiders rank third in the nation in attendance with an average of 10,914 fans per game.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2006-07 Stats)
#10 A'Quonesia Franklin, G, 5-3, Jr. (6.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
#3 Takia Starks, G, 5-8, So. (15.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
#55 Danielle Gant, G/F, 5-11, So. (10.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg)
#24 Patrice Reado, F, 6-0, Jr. (8.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
#12 La Toya Micheaux, C, 6-3, So. (7.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg)
TEXAS TECH
No. Name (2006-07 Stats)
#5 Chesley Dabbs, G, 6-0, Sr. (8.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg)
#10 Brooke Baughman, G, 5-10, Sr. (7.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg)
#13 Jordan Murphree, G, 6-0, Fr. (9.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg)
#55 Alesha Robertson, F, 6-0, Sr. (13.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg)
#34 Erin Myrick, C, 6-3, Jr. (10.4 ppg, 8.4 rpg)
SERIES NOTES
Texas Tech holds a 52-9 advantage in the all-time series versus Texas A&M. Last season, the Aggies split the home and away series with the Lady Raiders for the first time ever in Big 12 regular season competition. A&M snapped a 19-game losing skid in the series with a decisive 65-48 victory over Tech at Reed Arena on Feb. 5, 2006. The Aggies are seeking their first win in Lubbock since Feb. 4, 1980. It is their only win in Lubbock in 61 contests played between both schools. In Big 12 regular season action, the Lady Raiders lead 19-1 in the series.
AGAINST THE BIG 12 SOUTH
Every year the league gets stronger and stronger and the Big 12 South becomes a destination no opponent favors in regular season play. Four of the six schools which make up the Big 12 South are currently ranked among the top 25 teams in the country with No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 9 Baylor, No. 19 Texas A&M and No. 23 Texas. Historically, the Aggies have not fared so well with a 21-79 all-time record against their southern counterparts since the league's formation. They have only won eight road games in 50 tries. Last season, A&M posted their best record against Big 12 South foes (5-5) sweeping rival Texas and Oklahoma State and taking a series split versus Texas Tech.
CONNECTED BY LOUISIANA TECH
Four head coaches in the Big 12 have Louisiana Tech roots under Women's Basketball Hall of Fame coach Leon Barmore. Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair served as an assistant coach there from 1980-85. During his five seasons in Ruston, Louisiana Tech won two national championships in four NCAA Final Four appearances. Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey starred for the Lady Techsters from 1980-84 and was coached by Barmore and Blair. She later served as an assistant coach at her alma mater from 1985-2000 and helped lead the Lady Techsters to a 430-68 record and seven NCAA Final Fours. Texas Tech head coach Kristi Curry also coached at La. Tech from 1996-99 before landing the head job at Purdue. After Barmore's retirement in 2002, Oklahoma State head coach Kurt Budke took over the reins at Louisiana Tech for three seasons. His Lady Techster squads went 80-24 with three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2002-05.
LAST TIME vs. TEXAS TECH
Morenike Atunrase scored 14 points and blocked a season-best six shots to lead Texas A&M to a 65-48 victory over Texas Tech on Feb. 5, 2006. The win was the first for A&M over the Lady Raiders since the Aggies won the championship game of the 1996 Southwest Conference Tournament. A&M's margin of victory was its largest in the series matching a 17-point win in 1976. The Aggies shined on defense blocking 14 shots, the most since the inception of the Big 12. Texas Tech committed 22 turnovers for the game. Back-to-back three pointers by Atunrase lifted A&M to a 27-22 lead with 4:56 to play in the first. It sparked a 16-4 run to close the half. Erica Roy came off the bench to score nine points in the first half of play as A&M led at halftime, 37-24. An 8-3 run to start the second half lifted the Aggies to a 45-27 lead with 14:10 remaining. But, the Lady Raiders answered back with a 16-7 run to cut their deficit to 52-43 with 6:51 to go. It was the closest Tech would get. Erin Myrick tallied six points during the run. A&M closed the game with a 13-5 run mainly at the free throw line. The Aggies failed to record a field goal during the final 5:11 of the game, but they connected on the final six attempts from the charity stripe. A'Quonesia Franklin scored 12 points with four assists and just one turnover for the Aggies. while Patrice Reado scored 12 points with seven rebounds and a career-best four blocked shots. Texas Tech was paced by a trio of double-doubles led by Alesha Robertson's 16 points and 11 rebounds and by Erin Myrick's 10 points and 14 rebounds. LaToya Davis added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
KANSAS STATE RECAP
Sophomores Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) and Danielle Gant (Oklahoma City, Okla.) each scored 10 points as Texas A&M dropped a 48-45 decision at Kansas State in the team's Big 12 Conference opener on Jan. 6. Claire Coggins scored a game-high 20 points for the Wildcats and recorded her 1,000th career point in the process. The Aggies had a chance to win in the final seconds, but Coggins stole the ball and hit a free throw to give the Wildcats a 48-45 lead with seven seconds left. Sophomore A'Quonesia Franklin's desperation shot at the buzzer didn't fall and A&M dropped to 0-3 on the road this season. Coggins hit a three-pointer with 9:09 left in the first half to reach the 1,000-point mark. She scored the final nine points of the half for the Wildcats, who trailed 26-24 at the break. Both teams exchanged leads eight times in the contest. The largest Aggie lead was six points with 13:44 left to play in the first half. The Aggies shot a season-low 31.7 percent from the floor, but forced the Wildcats to turn over the ball 24 times in the game. A&M missed its first 11 shots from beyond the arc, before Franklin hit a three-pointer with 5:13 remaining to pull the Aggies within a point. They also finished a season-low 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from three-point range versus the Wildcats. A&M's 45 points was the lowest scoring production in a single game this season.
OH HAIL TO THEE ALMA MATER
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair returns to his alma mater for the sixth time of his 22-year coaching career at A&M, Arkansas and Stephen F. Austin combined. He has never won a game in Lubbock with an 0-6 lifetime record versus the Lady Raiders. Blair earned his bachelor's degree in health and physical education in 1972 and his master's degree in education in 1974 from Texas Tech. Blair also played a season of baseball for the Red Raiders. On the other end of the sidelines, Texas Tech assistant coach Kelly Curry is a Class of 1990 graduate of Texas A&M with a bachelor's degree in business administration management. He is married to Texas Tech head coach Kristy Curry who served as an assistant coach at A&M from 1994-96 under former head coach Candi Harvey. The Aggies compiled a 41-21 record during her two years with the program with an NCAA First Round appearance in 1996 and NWIT Championship title in 1995.
PRIDE IN AGGIE DEFENSE
Texas A&M has led the Big 12 in steals the last six consecutive seasons. It's no wonder the Aggies are tops in the league with 168 on the season which ranks 10th nationally. They recorded a season-high 20 steals against Western Illinois on Jan. 2 and have stripped the ball more than 11 times in 10-of-13 games played this season. The Aggie defense has caused eight opponents this season to turn over the ball more than 24 times in a contest including Pepperdine (34), Mercer (34), McNeese State (28), West Virginia (29), North Texas (26) Sam Houston State (37), Western Illinois (29) and Kansas State (24). Sophomore Danielle Gant ranks third in the league in the steals category (2.4 avg), while junior Patrice Reado is seventh-best (2.2 avg) and junior A'Quonesia Franklin (Tyler, Texas) is 10th-best (1.9 avg) through all games played. Reado made a season-high six steals in the Kansas State game on Jan. 6.
INJURY UPDATE
Junior All-American candidate Morenike Atunrase (Shreveport, La.) returned to the A&M lineup and played 20 minutes in the team's 48-45 conference-opening loss at Kansas State on Jan. 6. She entered the game with 12:41 remaining in the first half and scored her first basket at the 8:43 minute mark. It was her first field goal since suffering a fracture to her left foot in a 79-66 loss at Rice on Dec. 1. She missed five games of the season with A&M going 4-1 during her absence. Prior to the injury, Atunrase averaged a team-leading 17.1 points and 1.9 blocks per game for the nationally-ranked Aggies. She had not missed a game dating back to the beginning of her Big 12 Freshman of the Year campaign in 2004-05. Junior LaToya Gulley (Fayetteville, Ark.) and redshirt freshman Ashlaa Horton (Cedar Hill, Texas) are still recovering from stress fractures, while junior Katy Pounds (Shallowater, Texas) played five minutes with four points against Western Illinois on Jan. 2. Pounds had a stress reaction to her left foot.
AMONG NCAA LEADERS
Not only does Texas A&M rank among the top 25 teams in the nation in steals, but also in five other NCAA statistical categories including scoring defense (4th, 48.4), scoring margin (7th, 24.3), three-point field goal percentage (11th, 39.5), assists per game (5th, 19.5) and blocked shots per game (24th, 5.2) as of Jan. 7. Junior point guard A'Quonesia Franklin ranks 17th nationally in assists per game (5.9 avg). Texas Tech ranks 25th nationally in field-goal percentage defense holding its last 16 opponents to 35.8 percent shooting from the floor.
LOOKING AT THE RPI
The Aggies are currently No. 42 in the Jeff Sagarin/CBN Women's College Basketball Ratings as of Jan. 8. Nine Big 12 opponents are rated among the top 100 RPI teams including Oklahoma (13), Baylor (16), Kansas State (25), Iowa State (28), Missouri (30), Texas (44), Nebraska (46), Texas Tech (53) and Colorado (91) according to CollegeRPI.com. A&M also played top 100 non-conference opponents in Washington (20) and Arizona (67). The first official NCAA RPI index will be released on Jan. 16.
AROUND THE BIG 12
Baylor (15-1) and Oklahoma (12-1) currently lead the Big 12 with perfect 2-0 records in conference play. They are followed by Colorado (7-6) who upset Missouri (13-2) with a 71-59 victory in Boulder on Jan. 3 to begin the season at 1-0. Iowa State (13-2), Missouri (13-2), Nebraska (13-3) and Texas Tech (10-6) are all tied for fourth with 1-1 records. Texas A&M is one of four league teams still looking for a league win along with Oklahoma State (12-2), Texas (11-4) and Kansas (5-9).
1T. Baylor (15-1, 2-0)
1T. Oklahoma (12-1, 2-0)
3. Colorado (7-6, 1-0)
4T. Iowa State (13-2, 1-1)
4T. Kansas State (13-2, 1-1)
4T. Missouri (13-2, 1-1)
4T. Nebraska (13-3, 1-1)
4T. Texas Tech (10-6, 1-1)
9T. Oklahoma State (12-2, 0-1)
9T. Texas A&M (10-3, 0-1)
9T. Texas (11-4, 0-1)
12. Kansas (5-9, 0-2)
AGGIES IN THE TOP 25
A&M dropped two spots to No. 19 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll released Monday and No. 19 in the latest USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Top 25 Poll release Tuesday. Their previous No. 10-ranking during Week 3 in both the AP and Coaches Polls marked the highest-ever national ranking in school history. A&M is one of only eight schools including Ohio State, North Carolina, LSU, Connecticut, Michigan State, Duke and Tennessee with both its men's and women's basketball teams ranked among the top 25 teams in the country. The Aggies are also one of only two Big 12 schools to hold that distinction along with Texas. A&M has appeared in the national polls for 10-straight weeks since the preseason polls came out on Nov. 1 and 8. The school record for consecutive weeks in the AP Top 25 Poll is 12-straight weeks during the 1994-95 campaign under former head coach Candi Harvey. A&M went on to win the NWIT that season. The Aggies also appeared in the AP Poll for seven-straight weeks in 1995-96.
2006-07 ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL
1. Maryland (17-0)
2. North Carolina (17-0)
3. Duke (16-0)
4. Tennessee (14-1)
5. LSU (15-1)
6. Ohio State (13-1)
7. Connecticut (12-1)
8. Oklahoma (11-1)
9. Baylor (14-1)
10. Stanford (11-3)
11. Arizona State (14-2)
12. George Washington (11-2)
13. Purdue (14-3)
14. Vanderbilt (14-2)
15. Georgia (13-3)
16. Marquette (15-1)
17. Louisville (16-1)
18. Bowling Green (12-2)
19. Texas A&M (10-3)
20. Michigan State (12-3)
21. Middle Tennessee State (12-3)
22. California (11-4)
23. Texas (11-4)
24. DePaul (11-4)
25. Arkansas (15-3)
2006-07 USA TODAY/ESPN COACHES POLL
1. Maryland (17-0)
2. North Carolina (17-0)
3. Duke (16-0)
4. Tennessee (14-1)
5. Connecticut (12-1)
6. LSU (15-1)
7. Oklahoma (11-1)
8. Ohio State (13-1)
9. Baylor (14-1)
10. Stanford (11-3)
11. Arizona State (14-2)
12. Vanderbilt (14-2)
13. Purdue (14-3)
14. George Washington (11-2)
15. Georgia (13-3)
16. Louisville (16-1)
17. Marquette (15-1)
18. Bowling Green (12-2)
19. Texas A&M (10-3)
20. Michigan State (12-3)
21. Middle Tennessee State (12-3)
22. California (11-4)
23. Pittsburgh (12-2)
24. DePaul (11-4)
25. TCU (12-4)
AGGIES ON THE RADIO
All Texas A&M women's basketball games can be heard via a radio broadcast on the Texas A&M Sports Network. Tom Turbiville (play-by-play) and Steve Miller (color analyst) will call the action live from United Spirit Arena on KZNE 1150 AM.