January 26, 2007
Another road obstacle presents itself as the No. 20-ranked Texas A&M women?â„¢s basketball team (14-4, 4-2) travels to No. 6 Oklahoma (17-1, 7-0) on Saturday, Jan. 27 for a nationally-televised top 25 showdown between the Aggies and Sooners at 11 a.m. in Norman, Okla. A&M has struggled on the road this season with a 2-4 record away from the friendly confines of Reed Arena. The Aggies have not won in Norman during the Big 12 Conference era and are searching for their first in the series since 1990. The Aggies and Sooners look to refuel their engines and recover from a grueling week of basketball. A&M will have played three games in seven days, while OU will have played four games in eight days. The Aggies may have had the tougher of the two having faced three-straight top 25 opponents in a row. The Sooners lead the Big 12 race with an unblemished 7-0 record, while the Aggies are in a three-way tie for second with a 4-2 mark. A&M has won four of its last five outings including a much-needed 66-65 win over No. 25 Nebraska on Jan. 24. They are 1-0 this season against the top 10 with a 60-52 upset of then-No. 9 Baylor on Jan. 13.
MUST SEE TV
The Aggies make their third appearance on national television this season with Kevin Eschenfelder (play-by-play) and Debbie Antonelli (color analyst) calling Saturday?â„¢s game live from Lloyd Noble Center on Fox Sports Net. Fans throughout the country can watch the game live on FSN Arizona, FSN Bay Area, FSN Detroit, FSN Florida, FSN Midwest, FSN Ohio, FSN Pittsburgh, FSN Rocky Mountain, FSN South, FSN Southwest, FSN West, Comcast Mid-Atlantic and Comcast Chicago. Delayed broadcasts will be aired on FSN North (4 a.m.) and FSN Northwest (2 a.m.). Check your local listings. The Aggies are 2-1 in televised games this season and 1-1 when playing on FSN.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma has been unstoppable picking up its 23rd consecutive win in conference play with a 20-point rout of Iowa State (69-49) on Jan. 24. The Sooners have won eight-straight since suffering their only loss of the season at No. 8 Ohio State (74-67) on Dec. 20. Texas Tech is the only team (conference and non-conference) this season to hold OU to a single-digit victory. The Lady Raiders forced double overtime with the Sooners and fell five points short (86-81) in the upset bid. All-American Courtney Paris is one of eight players in the nation who is averaging a double-double with a team-and conference-leading 22.6 points and 15.4 rebounds per game. The Oklahoma defense has held its opponents to 32.7 percent from the floor which ranks third nationally. They are also third in the nation in rebound margin (+14.8) and fifth in field goal percentage (49.7). A sellout crowd may be on hand Saturday as the Sooners look to hold off an Aggie defense that has limited opponents to 50.8 points per game which ranks third nationally. Only 13 days separates OU and Texas A&M?â„¢s next meeting on Feb. 10 in College Station.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2006-07 Stats)
#10 A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin, G, 5-3, Jr. (8.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg)
#3 Takia Starks, G, 5-8, So. (13.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg)
#21 Morenike Atunrase, G/F, 5-10, Jr. (13.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg)
#55 Danielle Gant, G/F, 5-11, So. (9.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg)
#12 La Toya Micheaux, C, 6-3, So. (6.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg)
OKLAHOMA
No. Name (2006-07 Stats)
#33 Britney Brown, G, 5-8, Sr. (4.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg)
#22 Chelsi Welch, G, 5-9, Sr. (11.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg)
#34 Erin Higgins, G, 5-9, Sr. (4.5 ppg, 1.4 rpg)
#24 Leah Rush, F, 6-1, Sr. (10.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg)
#3 Courtney Paris, C, 6-4, So. (22.6 ppg, 15.4 rpg)
INSIDE THE SERIES
Oklahoma leads 23-8 in the all-time series against Texas A&M. The Aggies have lost eight-straight in the series with the Sooners owning a 17-3 advantage in Big 12 regular season games played between the two schools. A&M has yet to pick up a victory in Norman since the league?â„¢s inception. A&M?â„¢s three victories in regular season play have all occurred in College Station including its last win in the series, a 69-61 victory on Feb. 5, 2003. A&M?â„¢s first and only win (83-71) in Norman happened 17 years ago during the 1990-91 season under former head coach Lynn Hickey.
THREE?â„¢S COMPANY
Sixth-ranked Oklahoma is one of three top 25 opponents A&M will have faced in a weeks time along with No. 24 Texas and No. 25 Nebraska. All three schools are rated in the top 30 in the latest CollegeRPI.com index. The Aggies last drew three top 25 opponents in a row during Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair?â„¢s first season in 2003-04. A&M faced No. 14 Colorado, No. 3 Texas and No. 7 Texas Tech from Jan. 21-28, 2004. They also went up against four ranked opponents in No. 24 Oklahoma, No. 1 Texas, No. 7 Texas Tech and No. 8 Kansas State from Feb. 7-18, 2004. The Aggies have never posted back-to-back top 25 victories and never beaten Baylor, Texas Tech and Oklahoma (at least once in the home-and-home series) in a single season.
MAKING EVERY MINUTE COUNT
Junior A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin (Tyler, Texas) and sophomore Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) have seen the most minutes on the court of any Aggie and are among the top 10 players in the Big 12 when it comes to minutes played. Franklin (33.3) and Starks (32.2) rank sixth and 10th respectively. They are the only two A&M players to play and start in all 18 games of the season. Franklin has played all 40 minutes in a game on six occasions this season and has scored in double figures four times. Starks has played a full game on three occasions and has ended the night in double figures all three times. She has led the team in scoring seven times this year, while Franklin has done so on four occasions.
RETURN TO THE OKC
Former Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year and Nike All-American Danielle Gant (Oklahoma City, Okla.) returns home to the Sooner State for the third time of her A&M career. Last season, she made her first career Big 12 start at OU on Feb. 15, 2006. Gant has averaged 22.5 minutes, 8.0 points and 6.5 rebounds when playing the Sooners. She grabbed double-digit boards three times last year including twice against Oklahoma State. The Aggies went 2-2 against the Oklahoma schools during Gant?â„¢s freshman campaign. She ended the season ranked second-best among freshman nationally in the Big 12 with a team-leading 58.2 percent accuracy from the floor in 2005-06. Gant currently ranks 12th in the league in rebounding (6.9), fourth in field goal percentage (55.4) and fourth in steals (2.2). As a prep, she led the state in scoring averaging 25.2 points per game as a senior at Putnam City West High School. Gant also grabbed 9.5 rebounds, 4.0 steals and hit 65.4 percent of her field goals. She was rated No. 43 and No. 49 in the nation by the All-Star Girls Report and Blue Star Index. Gant chose A&M over Oklahoma and South Carolina. She also led the Air Oklahoma Stars to a pair of AAU national championships in 2000 and 2004.
SUPER SOPHS
Saturday?â„¢s matchup will showcase four of the league?â„¢s top sophomores in Texas A&M?â„¢s Takia Starks, Danielle Gant and La Toya Micheaux (Missouri City, Texas) along with Oklahoma?â„¢s Courtney Paris. Starks (8th, 13.9) and Paris (1st, 22.6) rank among the top 10 scorers in the Big 12. Gant (12th, 6.9) and Micheaux (16th, 6.3) join Paris among the top 20 rebounders in the league. Micheaux also ranks sixth-best in offensive rebounds (56). Micheaux and the Paris twins both hail from athletic bloodlines. La Toya?â„¢s father, Larry, played alongside Clyde Drexler and Hakeem ?The Dream? Olajuwon as members of the famed ?Phi Slamma Jamma? at the University of Houston. The Paris twins?â„¢ father, Bubba Paris, was an All-Pro for the San Francisco 49ers. Ironically, Hakeem Olajuwon?â„¢s daughter, Abi, is currently a freshman center for the Sooners.
DID YOU KNOW?
A&M is known for its stifling defense, but did you know that 39 percent of the team?â„¢s scoring this season has come in the paint? The Aggies have scored 30-or-more points in the paint 12 times this season including twice in conference play against Kansas State and Colorado. A&M has also taken advantage of opponent miscues scoring 33 percent of its scoring off turnovers. The Aggies have scored 20-or-more points off turnovers in all but three games this season. They lead the conference in scoring defense (50.8), steals (12.1), turnover margin (+7.4) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.04).
AGAINST THE TOP 25
This will be the 10th time in school history in which a ranked A&M squad will go up against another top 25 opponent. Last season, the Aggies went 0-6 against top 25 competition, but picked up their first top 25 victory in the Gary Blair Era with a 60-52 upset of No. 9 Baylor on Jan. 13 in College Station. They previously went 0-12 in 2003-04 and 0-8 in 2004-05. In all, the Aggies have played nine games against ranked opponents when also ranked in the top 25. The occurrence has happened three times in 2006-07, three times in 2005-06 and three times in 1995-96. A&M is 2-1 against top 25 opponents this season.
THINK PINK
Fans can join in on the Texas A&M athletic department?â„¢s efforts to ?Beat the Hell Outta Breast Cancer? as the nationally-ranked Aggie women host Kansas on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. Tickets are available for $10 with $8 of the ticket sale benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. In addition, there will be official ?BTHO Breast Cancer? shirts available in the concourse. This is a special opportunity to make a difference in the community. Fans are also encouraged to wear pink to the game in support of the cause.
LAST TIME OUT
Morenike Atunrase led No. 21 Texas A&M with 16 points, but it wasn?â„¢t enough as Courtney Paris scored 15 as the No. 9-ranked Sooners won, 73-54, on Feb. 15, 2006 at Lloyd Noble Center. The A&M defense limited Paris to her lowest output in 10 games. She split her 16 points evenly over the two halves. A&M used a big lineup for the first time of the season with La Toya Micheaux and Lenka Zimova in the lineup at the same time. Micheaux scored a career-best nine points to go with eight rebounds, while Zimova had six points. After A&M had closed a 12-point gap to seven points, 59-52, with 3:40 to play following a three point play by Eric Roy, Oklahoma pulled away in the final two minutes with a 14-2 run as Higgins drained a pair of three pointers. The Sooners scored the first seven points of the game before Atunrase drained a three-pointer to pull A&M within 7-3 with 17:05 to play in the first half. A&M struggled to make shots in the first half as it missed on 16 of its first 21 shots. As the Sooners were scoring from the paint, they struggled from long range missing 10-straight before Erin Higgins drained one from beyond the arc with 4:33 to play in the first half, to give the Sooners a 26-14 lead. Higgins finished the night with nine points with a trio of three-pointers. The Aggies answered the Sooners with a 14-6 run to close the half trailing 32-28 at the break. Atunrase hit a three-pointer from the left wing with four seconds left in the first half to finish the frame with eight points and four rebounds. A&M carried their resurgence into the second half by tying the game at 37-37 after a bucket by Atunrase. It increased the earlier 14-6 run to 23-12. The Sooners answered with a 20-8 run capped by a bucket by Brittany Brown to give Oklahoma a 57-45 lead with 7:25 remaining in regulation. Leah Rush scored 14 points for the Sooners and Chelsi Welch added 12. Paris recorded a double-double with 14 rebounds. Atunrase was the Aggies?â„¢ only double-digit scorer.
CLOSE CALLS
Four of A&M?â„¢s games in conference play have been decided by eight points or less including a narrow victory over No. 25 Nebraska (66-65) on Jan. 24. The Aggies have gone 3-1 in close game situations and are 2-1 when a Big 12 contest has been decided by three points or less. Only six games of the season have been decided in single digits with only two going toward the win column for an opponent.
NEBRASKA RECAP
Junior Morenike Atunrase (Shreveport, La.) scored 19 points, including two big free throws with 18 seconds left as No. 21 Texas A&M beat No. 25 Nebraska, 66-65, on Jan. 24 in College Station. Atunrase?â„¢s free throws gave the Aggies a four-point lead that Nebraska immediately closed to 66-65 on a three-pointer by Kiera Hardy with 14 seconds left. A&M?â„¢s Takia Starks missed two free throws after being fouled when the Aggies inbounded the ball, but Hardy missed a jumper at the last second to spoil the Cornhuskers?â„¢ final chance. Junior A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin led the Aggies with 21 points and sophomore Danielle Gant added 11. Sophomore La Toya Micheaux led the team in rebounding with career-high tying 11. Hardy and Kelsey Griffin led Nebraska (16-4, 4-2) with 16 points apiece. Chelsea Aubry added 12 points, while Griffin led the team with 10 rebounds. Nebraska led 30-26 after the first half. The Cornhuskers pushed their lead to seven points at 16:28, but the Aggies went on a 9-4 run to tie the game at 11:10. The Aggies then pushed the lead to eight at 5:38 on a three-pointer by Atunrase. The Aggies improved from 29 percent field goal shooting in the first half to 47 percent in the second. They shot 37 percent on the game to 34 percent for the Cornhuskers. Texas A&M improved to 2-1 against top 25 competition this season with the one-point victory over Nebraska. It marked only the Aggies?â„¢ fifth win against the Cornhuskers in the all-time series. Franklin tied a career-high with 21 points in 40 minutes of action versus the Huskers. She hit her first of two three-pointers of the night at the 11:05 minute-mark of the second half to tie the game up at 43-43. Her eight field goals marked a new career-best in the category. Starks was held to a season-low three points in the ballgame. She has only scored in single digits in 13 of 49 career games played for the Aggies. Starks was previously on a 10-game double-digit scoring streak and went 1-of-8 from the floor versus the Huskers. Junior Patrice Reado (Houston, Texas) had a career-high five blocked shots, while Atunrase had two which puts her at 133 career blocks. She is five shy of breaking the school record for career blocks. Her 19 points was the most scored in conference play this season and the most points scored since fracturing her left foot at Rice on Dec. 1, 2006.
AGGIES IN THE RPI
The Aggies are currently No. 21 in the Jeff Sagarin/CBN Women?â„¢s College Basketball Ratings as of Jan 26. Eleven Big 12 schools are rated among the top 100 RPI teams including Oklahoma (6), Baylor (14), Kansas State (20), Texas (24), Nebraska (32), Texas Tech (36), Missouri (49), Iowa State (50), Texas A&M (69), Colorado (86) and Oklahoma State (89) according to CollegeRPI.com. Women?â„¢s basketball experts and analysts have predicted that seven Big 12 teams could earn an NCAA Tournament berth come Selection Monday in March. A&M has also played top 100 non-conference opponents in Washington (29), West Virginia (56) and Rice (93).
AROUND THE BIG 12
Oklahoma and Texas A&M top the Big 12 Conference stat sheets in all but five statistical categories through all games played. The Aggies and Sooners rank No. 1 and 2 in three-point field goal percentage and assists. A&M is shooting a league-leading 39.0 percent from beyond the arc and dishing out 17.8 assists per game. The Aggies will have faced three of the top three teams in the league in their last five outings and the first-and second-place teams in back-to-back matchups. No team has beaten Oklahoma in conference play since a 72-36 loss at then-No. 13 Texas on Feb. 26, 2005. They became the first league team to go an undefeated 16-0 last season.
1. Oklahoma (17-1, 7-0)
2T. Baylor (17-3, 4-2)
2T. Nebraska (16-4, 4-2)
2T. Texas A&M (14-4, 4-2)
5T. Kansas State (15-4, 3-3)
5T. Oklahoma State (15-4, 3-3)
5T. Texas (14-6 , 3-3)
5T. Texas Tech (12-8, 3-3)
9. Iowa State (15-5, 3-4)
10. Colorado (8-10, 2-4)
11. Missouri (13-6, 1-5)
12. Kansas (6-13, 0-6)
AGGIES ON THE RADIO
All Texas A&M women?â„¢s basketball games can be heard via a radio broadcast on the Texas A&M Sports Network. Tom Turbiville (play-by-play) and Leann South (color analyst) will call the action live from Lloyd Noble Center on KZNE 1150 AM.