February 02, 2007
The second portion of Big 12 Conference play gets underway as the No. 18/20-ranked Texas A&M women's basketball team (16-4, 6-2) hosts Kansas (6-15, 0-8) on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. at Reed Arena. The Aggies are one-game behind of first place in the conference race with a 6-2 mark, while KU is in last place at 0-8. A&M is one of only two teams in the league and one of 22 nationally who remain undefeated at home. The Aggies will look to defend their home court where they have won 13 in a row. The Jayhawks may be seeking revenge after the Aggies ended their 12-game home court winning streak last season in Lawrence.
| GAME INFO |
| Saturday, February 3, 6 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena (12,500), College Station Ticket Info: |
| EVENTS |
| 4:30pm - 6pm - ~8pm - Watch Men's Game on 12th Man TV |
| RECORDS |
| Texas A&M: 16-4, 6-2 Big 12 Kansas: 6-15, 0-8 Big 12 |
| RANKINGS |
| A&M is ranked 18th by The Associated Press and 20th by ESPN/USA Today. |
| TELEVISION |
| None |
| LIVE VIDEO |
| Tom Turbiville, play-by-play Tap Bentz, commentary |
| RADIO |
| KZNE-AM 1150 (Local) Tom Turbiville, play-by-play Tap Bentz, commentary (broadcast time 5:45 p.m. CST) |
| INTERNET |
| Live Video (Free): (Aggies All-Access) Live Audio (Free): (Aggies All-Access) Live Stats: (aggieathletics.com) |
| SERIES |
| Kansas leads, 7-4 Last Meeting: (1/15/06) Last at Reed: (1/15/05) |
| UP NEXT |
| A&M at Missouri Wednesday, Feb. 7, 7 p.m. (CST) Mizzou Arena, Columbia, Mo. |
A&M's last three contests have come down to the wire and have been decided by two points or less in favor of the Aggies including a 64-63 victory over Oklahoma State on Jan. 30. Half of the Jayhawks' league games have been decided by nine points or less including two of their last three. A&M will look to string together four-straight wins in conference play for the first time in school history. They have yet to master that feat in the league's 10-year existence. With the OSU win, the Aggies closed out the month of January with a 7-2 record, their best in the Gary Blair and Big 12 era. The Jayhawks will have to find a way to stay up to par with the nation's third-best defense as each of A&M's last six opponents have turned over the ball more than 20 times. The Aggies are holding opponents to a league-best 51.5 points per game. A&M also ranks seventh nationally in three-point field goal percentage (39.1) burying more than four threes in the last five out of six contests.
THINK PINK
Fans can join in on the Texas A&M athletic department'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 for $5. This is a special opportunity to make a difference in the community. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game in support of the cause. Immediately following the game, the 12th Man TV at Reed Arena will air a battle of two top 10 teams as the No. 8-ranked Texas A&M men's basketball team takes on No. 6 Kansas at historic Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan. Join the Aggies tomorrow for a basketball doubleheader against Kansas. The Blair Kids Court will stay open as well as the concession stands. The men will tipoff at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
CHALK TALK ON THE JAYHAWKS
Kansas is still searching for its first win in conference play having lost all eight of the season. Historically, KU is the only program other than Oklahoma State to go winless in the Big 12 since the league's formation in 1996-97. They went 0-16 in 2001-02, while OSU did so in 2005-06. The Jayhawks have not been able to collect more than five league wins over the last six seasons. Like Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair, Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson is a proven winner and was hired to turnaround the once fledging program in Lawrence. In seven seasons at Big East power Virginia Tech, Henrickson led the Hokies to seven postseason appearances including five NCAA berths. Texas A&M will be the second of three Big 12 South schools the Jayhawks will have faced in their current four-game stretch. They dropped a 66-65 heartbreaker at home to Texas Tech on Jan. 31 and will face Texas on Feb. 10 in Austin. KU has held two of its three Big 12 South foes to single-digit victories including Baylor (-7) and Tech (-1). Last season, the Jayhawks posted their first winning season with a 17-13 overall record and made their first postseason appearance since the 1999-00 season. KU fell to Ole Miss (78-76) in the WNIT First Round. Seven freshmen, who were touted as the 20th-best recruiting class in the nation by the All-Star Girls Report in 2006, and three Texans make up the 14-player roster for KU. Freshman guard Kelly Kohn leads the team in scoring (10.1 ppg) and steals (32).
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2006-07 Stats)
#10 A'Quonesia Franklin, G, 5-3, Jr. (8.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg)
#3 Takia Starks, G, 5-8, So. (13.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg)
#55 Danielle Gant, G/F, 5-11, So. (9.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg)
#24 Patrice Reado, F, 6-0, Jr. (7.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg)
#12 La Toya Micheaux, C, 6-3, So. (7.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg)
KANSAS
No. Name (2006-07 Stats)
#21 Shaquina Mosley, G, 5-6, Sr. (8.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
#2 Kelly Kohn, G, 5-9, Fr. (10.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg)
#1 Sharita Smith, G, 5-8, Sr. (1.6 ppg, 0.6 rpg)
#13 Taylor McIntosh, F, 5-11, Jr. (5.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg)
#34 Porscha Weddington, F, 6-1, Fr. (2.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg)
SERIES NOTES
Kansas leads 7-4 in the all-time series versus Texas A&M. The Aggies are winners of the last three-straight meetings including last year's 78-64 win in Lawrence which gave KU its first loss of the season at home. The Jayhawks had won 12-straight at historic Allen Fieldhouse up until the A&M contest on Jan. 15, 2006. It marked the largest margin of victory in the series in the last four contests between the two schools. Each of the three meetings prior to last season's 14-point A&M win were decided by seven points or less. The Jayhawks own a two-game lead in regular season series, 6-4, having only met once prior to the inception of the Big 12. KU has been successful on the road in the series, having won four of the five games played in College Station.
SERIES FLASHBACK - JAN. 15, 2006
Morenike Atunrase scored a career-high 29 points to lead Texas A&M over Kansas, 78-64, at Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 15, 2006. A&M hit 12-straight free throws over the final 2:10 to record its third-straight win at KU. Atunrase drained five three-pointers and blocked five shots to lead the Aggies. She connected on 4-of-4 from the line in the final two minutes and was successful on 6-of-8 for the game. As a team, the Aggies connected on a season-best 14-of-16 free throws. A&M entered the game averaging 63 percent from the line. The Aggies put together a 14-3 run over the final 90 seconds of the first half into the first five minutes of the second to take a 43-32 lead. A&M led by 41-29 in the opening minutes of the second half. Inside shooting by Crystal Kemp and perimeter success by Kaylee Brown set the tone for Kansas. Kemp finished with 27 points and nine rebounds, while Brown drained four three-pointers en route to 20 points. Three times midway through the second half, the Aggies again held a 12-point lead. A bucket by Takia Starks with 8:49 to play in the game lifted A&M to a 59-47 lead. Starks finished with 15 points. Kansas answered with a 12-5 run to pull within 64-59 with 4:36 remaining as Kemp converted a three-point play. Then, Atunrase hit a jumper with three minutes left to push the Aggies' lead to 66-59. A&M then held its composure on the floor after a technical foul was issued to its bench. Kemp missed the free throws with 2:49 to play. Brown answered 20 seconds later by connecting on 2-of-3 free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt to pull Kansas within five, 66-61. In an awkward foul situation, the Jayhawks needed five fouls to force the Aggies to the free throw line in the final minutes. A&M capitalized at the line making 12 of its final 12 attempts. Solid first-half shooting by the Aggies allowed them to take a 15-8 lead following a jumper by A'Quonesia Frankin to cap a 6-2 run with 12:16 to play. Franklin finished with 10 points and four assists. Atunrase scored 12 points in the first half, while Starks added nine. A&M shot 54.7 percent from the field for the game and scored 23 points off 20 Kansas turnovers.
BUILDING A BASKETBALL POWER IN COLLEGE STATION
It's not hard to believe with the hirings of Texas A&M men's basketball coach Billy Gillispie and Texas A&M women's basketball coach Gary Blair that they would build a basketball power in College Station. Texas A&M is currently one of five Division I programs in the country with both of its men's (15-0) and women's (12-0) teams undefeated at home this season. The others are Ohio State, North Carolina, George Washington and BYU. Of that group, the Aggies are one of just three with both their men and women ranked in the top 25 along with Ohio State and UNC. The Aggie women have won all but two games over the last two seasons at Reed Arena with a 26-2 record under Blair. In all, there are around 50 men's and women's teams combined who are undefeated at their home venues. On the women's side, A&M is one of two in the Big 12 with Kansas State (10-0). On the men's side, A&M is one of three with Oklahoma State (13-0) and Texas (11-0).
THE DISH ON AQUA
Junior point guard A'Quonesia Franklin (Tyler, Texas) is closing in on her third consecutive 100+ assist season and would become only the third player in school history to do so along with former A&M standouts Toccara Williams (2000-04) and Lisa Branch (1992-96). She has dished out 95 assists this year for the Aggies who are tied for first in the league and ranks 17 nationally in assists per game (16.9). Franklin has 400 career assists to her credit which ranks sixth all-time in the A&M record books and needs 39 more to move into the top five. She has scored in double figures in five out of the team's last six outings including a career-high 21 versus No. 25 Nebraska on Jan. 24. Franklin currently leads the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.11) and ranks fourth in assists. She has gone without committing a turnover in three contests and is one of only two Aggies to play and start in all 20 games of the season.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CHARITY
Aggies are always generous off the court, but find a way to take advantage of opponents' miscues and charity on the court. In five of their the last six games, the Aggies have been sent to the free throw line more than 17 times per game and having made 60 percent of them. Overall, only 17 percent of the team's scoring this season have come from makes from the charity stripe. Over the last three games, however, 40 of their 184 combined points (22 percent) against Nebraska, OU and Oklahoma State combined have come from free throw makes. Sophomore La Toya Micheaux was sent to the line a career-high 12 times and converted a career-best nine, while sophomore Danielle Gant sank six of her career-high 10 free throw attempts versus OSU on Jan. 30. The Cowgirls sent A&M to the free throw line 28 times, the most in conference play this season.
IN THE CLUTCH
After their 1994 World Championship, the NBA's Houston Rockets were infamously known as Clutch City. But, has the same occurred 90 miles away in College Station? The Aggies have scored clutch baskets when it counted most. Six of A&M's games in conference play have been decided by eight points or less. Meanwhile, each of their last three games have been decided by two points or less including narrow victories over No. 25 Nebraska (66-65) on Jan. 24, No. 6 Oklahoma (54-52) on Jan. 27 and unranked Oklahoma State (64-63) on Jan. 30. The Aggies have won all but one of the six in close game situations in league play and are 4-1 when a Big 12 contest has been decided by three points or less. Eight games of the season have been decided in single digits with only two going toward the win column for an opponent. In back-to-back contests against the Oklahoma schools, sophomore Takia Starks and junior A'Quonesia Franklin found nothing but net with key second-half three-point bombers versus the Sooners and Cowgirls. Sophomore Danielle Gant also stepped up to the plate draining key free throws under pressure including the game winner with 0.03 seconds left against OSU.
BALANCED SCORING ATTACK
Six players on the A&M roster are averaging better than seven points per game with two averaging double figures in leading scorer Takia Starks (13.5 ppg) and junior Morenike Atunrase (12.9 ppg). Overall, seven Aggies have led the team in scoring on different occasions. A&M's starters are contributing 75 percent of the team's scorers including Starks, Atunrase, Gant, Franklin, Reado and Micheaux. First-year players such as freshmen Adrian McGowen (Goodrich, Texas), Katrina Limbaha (Riga, Latvia), Damitria Buchanan (Houston, Texas) and Ashlaa Horton (Cedar Hill, Texas) are contributing 11 percent, while returning letterwinners 14 percent off the bench.
CAREER WATCH
Junior All-American candidate Morenike Atunrase (Shreveport, La.) is on the verge of becoming Texas A&M's all-time leading shot blocker with 136 career blocks to date. She needs two more blocks to surpass former A&M standout Kelly Cerny (137) in the school record books. Atunrase moved into second all-time with three blocked shots in a 54-52 upset of sixth-ranked Oklahoma on Jan. 27. She is 26 points shy of recording her 1,000th career point and would become only the 18th player all-time to reach the milestone in school history. Atunrase would also become the first 1,000-point scorer since Toccara Williams did so during her senior campaign in 2003-04. She played limited minutes against Oklahoma State on Jan. 30 as she went down with a sprained right ankle during the OU game.
OKLAHOMA STATE RECAP
Sophomore Danielle Gant hit the game-winning free throw with one second left to lift No. 18 Texas A&M to a 64-63 win over Oklahoma State before the second-largest crowd of the season-high with 7,191 fans in attendance at Reed Arena on Jan. 30. Danielle Green had tied the game for Oklahoma State on a layup with four seconds left to make it, 63-63. Gant, who finished with 16 points, hit 5-of-13 from the field and six of her 10 free throws. She also had a season-high 15 rebounds. Sophomore La Toya Micheaux added 15 points for the Aggies, while junior A'Quonesia Franklin had 10. Nine of Micheaux's 15 points came from the charity stripe as she converted a career-best 9-of-12. Rashidat Sadiq led Oklahoma State with 23 points, including a crucial three-pointer with 14 seconds left to keep the Cowgirls within a point of Texas A&M. Sadiq hit five three-pointers on the night. Green added 12 points and Shaunte' Smith 10 for OSU. Oklahoma State led 27-25 at the half. The Cowgirls shot 47 percent from the field, while Texas A&M shot only 33 percent.
AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
Texas A&M continues to be one of the top 20 teams in the nation in five NCAA statistical categories including scoring defense (3rd, 51.5), three-point field goal percentage (7th, 39.1), scoring margin (15th, 16.4), assists (17th, 16.9) and steals (16th, 12.0) per game. Junior point guard A'Quonesia Franklin ranks 50th nationally in assists per game (4.8).
AGGIES IN THE RPI
The Aggies are currently No. 20 in the Jeff Sagarin/CBN Women's College Basketball Ratings as of Feb. 1. Eleven Big 12 schools are rated among the top 100 RPI teams in the nation including Baylor (11), Oklahoma (13), Texas (24), Kansas State (25), Nebraska (28), Texas Tech (30), Texas A&M (39), Missouri (44), Iowa State (45), Colorado (83) and Oklahoma State (92) according to CollegeRPI.com. The Aggies have posted a 4-2 record against teams rated in the top 30. A&M has also played top 100 non-conference opponents in Washington (38), West Virginia (57) and Rice (95).
BIG 12 RACE HEATING UP
With upsets, close games and near upsets in Big 12 Conference play, it goes to show how strong the league is this season and that every game counts. There are now eight league teams within one or two games of each other in the Big 12 race. Texas A&M (6-2), Baylor (6-2) and Nebraska (6-2) are now situated within one game of first place as league leader Oklahoma (7-2) dropped its second-straight at rival Texas (67-62) on Jan. 31. Ten of the 12 league teams have reached 14-or-more victories, while the top six schools have lost four games or less in conference play. Rounding out the top half of the standings is Texas Tech (4-3) and Texas (4-4). A&M has beaten five of the current top six teams this season.
1. Oklahoma (17-3, 7-2)
2T. Baylor (19-3, 6-2)
2T. Nebraska (18-4, 6-2)
2T. Texas A&M (16-4, 6-2)
5. Texas Tech (14-8, 4-3)
6. Texas (15-7, 4-4)
7. Iowa State (16-6, 4-5)
8T. Kansas State (15-6, 3-5)
8T. Oklahoma State (15-6, 3-5)
8T. Colorado (9-11, 3-5)
11. Missouri (14-7, 2-6)
12. Kansas (6-15, 0-7)
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 Tap Bentz (color analyst) will call the action live from Reed Arena on KZNE 1150 AM.