February 16, 2007
With four games remaining in regular season play, the No. 13-ranked Texas A&M women?â„¢s basketball team (19-5, 9-3) closes out a two-game road swing at Oklahoma State (17-8, 5-7) on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. in Stillwater, Okla. The Aggies will look to finish strong in their last six games of the season and rebound from a 61-54 loss at Iowa State on Feb. 14. A&M previously won a program-best six conference games in a row. Three of the team?â„¢s last five games of the season will be contested on the road. OSU will pose a challenge for A&M as the Cowgirls are 12-3 at historic Gallagher-Iba Arena. Both teams will be led on the court by two of the top point guards in the league with A&M?â„¢s A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin and Oklahoma State?â„¢s Andrea Riley. Franklin is the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, while Riley is the reigning Big 12 Rookie of the Week. A&M stands in a four-way tie for first, while Oklahoma State is tied for seventh in the league title race.
ROAD TRIP TO WACO
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair and the Texas A&M Maroon Club encourages fans to watch the Aggies travel to No. 15/15 Baylor (21-4, 8-3) on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 1 p.m. at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas. The Battle of the Brazos matchup between the two Big 12 Conference schools will be televised nationally on ESPN2. It will mark A&M?â„¢s second all-time appearance on the network next to last season?â„¢s NCAA Tournament first-round game versus TCU. The cost for the bus trip is $20 for Maroon Club members and $25 for all other Aggie fans. The bus trip package includes one ticket to the game, a snack pack, a media guide and a chance to win free prizes. The bus is scheduled to depart from the Sears parking lot at the Post Oak Mall in College Station at 10:45 a.m. (please arrive at 10:30 a.m.). For more information, please contact Marty at: (979) 846-3024 or mwalton@athletics.tamu.edu.
OSU SCOUTING REPORT
Oklahoma State has gone 2-2 in its last four outings including wins over Texas (78-63) on Feb. 7 and Missouri (83-57) on Feb. 10. The Cowgirls?â„¢ two losses in that stretch have come at the hands of top 25 opponents in No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 15 Baylor. They currently rank 10th nationally in rebound margin (+9.0) and have grabbed 40-or-more boards in 17 out of 25 games played this season. However, they have yet to capitalize on a top 25 victory going 0-5 this season against ranked opponents. A&M will be OSU?â„¢s second to last opponent at home as they hope to close out the season with their highest single-season win total at home. They are one win away from tying the school record of 13 home victories set during the 1990-91 season. OSU is the most improved team in the conference after finishing 0-16 last season in league play. Senior Rashidat Sadiq is averaging a team-leading 12.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game for the Cowgirls.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2006-07 Stats)
#10 A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin, G, 5-3, Jr. (9.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg)
#3 Takia Starks, G, 5-8, So. (14.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg)
#21 Morenike Atunrase, G/F, 5-10, Jr. (11.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg)
#24 Patrice Reado, F, 6-0, Jr. (7.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg)
#12 La Toya Micheaux, C, 6-3, So. (6.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg)
OKLAHOMA STATE
No. Name (2006-07 Stats)
#10 Andrea Riley, G, 5-5, Fr. (11.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg)
#31 Danielle Green, G, 5-8, Jr. (11.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg)
#1 Dominique Chism, F, 6-1, Jr. (4.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
#13 Rashidat Sadiq, F, 6-2, Sr. (12.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg)
#32 Shaunte?â„¢ Smith, F, 6-0, So. (6.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg)
SERIES HISTORY
Oklahoma State leads 19-12 in the all-time series versus Texas A&M. However, Texas A&M has won the last six-straight in the all-time series. Last season, A&M swept OSU with a 74-52 win in the Big 12 opener in College Station on Jan. 4, 2006 and a 65-47 victory in the regular season closer contested in Stillwater. The Aggies lead 11-10 in Big 12 regular season games played between the two schools. Six of A&M?â„¢s 12 victories in the series have been won at home. Historically, A&M has only swept three Big 12 South counterparts a total of six times including Texas (2005-06), Baylor (1999-2000), Oklahoma (2006-07) and Oklahoma State (1996-97, 2004-05, 2005-06) in the 11-year history of the league. They will be looking for their fourth all-time sweep of the Cowgirls.
DOUBLE T-KAY O
Sophomore Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) has delivered a knockout in each of the last three games for the Aggies. She scored a game-high 23 points to turn in her ninth 20-point game of her career against Iowa State on Feb. 14. She knocked down a career-high five three-pointers in the contest. It was the third-straight game in which Starks reached double digits in the first half alone. She scored 16 of the team?â„¢s 28 first-half points versus the Cyclones. Starks had 17 of the team?â„¢s 34 first-half points against No. 12 Oklahoma on Feb. 10 and 16 of the team?â„¢s 42 first-half points at Missouri on Feb. 7.
GOING FOR 20
The Aggies are one win shy of recording their seventh all-time 20-win season in school history. With its current 19-4 overall record, A&M has already assured itself of its 19th all-time winning season in the 33-year existence of Aggie women?â„¢s basketball. They have posted three consecutive winning seasons under Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair for the first time since the 1995-96 season. A&M went 23-8 in 1993-94, 21-9 in 1994-95 and 20-12 in 1995-96. Blair has led 15 different teams to 20-win seasons combined at Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas and A&M including last season?â„¢s 23-9 NCAA Tournament squad.
IN UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY
With four games remaining on the Big 12 Conference slate, the Aggies have never been in a closer position to be in the running for a conference title since 1994 when A&M (11-3) posted a second-place finish in the Southwest Conference behind league champion Texas Tech (12-2). The Aggies have never won a regular season conference title, but won their first-ever conference tournament title in 1996. A&M would outlast Texas Tech, 72-68, in the championship game in the final year of the SWC. Not since his days at Stephen F. Austin (1985-93) where he collected seven-straight conference championships has Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair been able to grasp the elusive conference title at Arkansas (1993-03) or A&M (2003-Present). Blair squads at both schools have never posted back-to-back seasons finishing among the top three in the conference. Last season, he led the Aggies to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996 and program-best tied for third finish in the Big 12.
OSU SERIES FLASHBACK
Sophomore Danielle Gant (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 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 on Jan. 30 before the second-largest crowd of the season with 7,191 fans in attendance at Reed Arena. Danielle Green had tied the game for Oklahoma State (15-6, 3-5) 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 (Missouri City, Texas) added 15 points for the Aggies (16-4, 6-2), while junior A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin (Tyler, Texas) had 10. Nine of Micheaux?â„¢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?â„¢ 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.
IOWA STATE RECAP
Takia Starks hit a career-high five three-pointers to score 23 points as No. 13 Texas A&M fell 61-54 to Iowa State on Feb. 14. Danielle Gant added 13 points for the Aggies, who were outscored 21-2 at the free throw line and shot just 37 percent. Nicky Wieben scored 20 points and Toccara Ross added 12 points and 13 rebounds for Iowa State. The Cyclones held A&M without a field goal for more six minutes during a 14-1 game-clinching run that ended the Aggies?â„¢ six-game winning streak and dropped them to 0-6 at Hilton Coliseum. A&M tied the score at 46 when Patrice Reado scored inside with 8:25 left. But the Aggies didn?â„¢t get another basket until Reado scored at the 2:17 mark and the Cyclones went to Wieben inside to put it away. Wieben scored on a follow shot and two low-post moves to give Iowa State a 54-46 lead. After A&M?â„¢s La Toya Micheaux sank a free throw, the Cyclones came back with two free throws by Wieben, two more by Heather Ezell and a turnaround shot in the lane by Ross to stretch their lead to 60-47 and finish off the Aggies. Ezell finished with 10 points for Iowa State, which trailed only twice in the second half, each time by one point. There five ties and three lead changes in the second half before Iowa State went on its decisive run. Iowa State took advantage of some sloppy play by A&M to open a 15-10 lead, with Ezell getting six of those points and Megan Ronhovde adding a three-point play and a putback. But Starks kept getting open shots against ISU?â„¢s zone and brought her team back, hitting a 3-pointer and a jumper to tie it at 15. It went back and forth the rest of the half. Amanda Nisleit?â„¢s 3-pointer and Shellie Mosman?â„¢s two free throws gave the Cyclones a 28-25 lead before Starks?â„¢ fourth 3 of the half tied it at 28.
AMONG THE NATION?â„¢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 (7th, 53.1), three-point field goal percentage (3rd, 39.2), scoring margin (21st, 14.5), assists (18th, 16.8) and steals (25th, 11.1) per game as of Feb. 15. Junior point guard A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin ranks 37th nationally in assists per game (5.0) and first in the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.14).
MAKING A RACKET IN BRACKETOLOGY
ESPN.com bracketoligist Charlie Creme recently projected that Texas A&M would be seeded fourth in the field of 64 teams as the Big 12 champion in the Fresno Regional. The Aggies are one of seven teams predicted to make the Big Dance. Creme also cites that the league could possibly receive nine bids if Texas Tech and Oklahoma State can put up a good showing in the final two weeks of regular season play leading up to the Big 12 Championship on March 6-8 & 10 in Oklahoma City. Creme will project the 2007 NCAA Tournament bracket right up to Selection Monday to be aired on ESPN on March 12 at 7 p.m. (CT).
LOOKING AT THE RPI
The Aggies are currently No. 20 in the Jeff Sagarin/CBN Women?â„¢s College Basketball Ratings as of Feb. 14. Eleven Big 12 schools are rated among the top 100 RPI teams in the nation including Baylor (9), Oklahoma (15), Nebraska (24), Texas A&M (26), Texas (27), Iowa State (35), Texas Tech (36), Kansas State (41), Missouri (60), Oklahoma State (75) and Colorado (87) according to CollegeRPI.com. The Aggies have posted a 4-1 record against teams rated in the top 30. A&M has also played top 100 non-conference opponents in Washington (38), West Virginia (68) and Rice (90). In the latest RPI report released by the NCAA on Feb. 12, A&M is rated No. 26 and is the fourth-highest rated team in the Big 12.
AROUND THE BIG 12
Texas A&M is in a four-way tie for first place in the latest Big 12 Conference standings with Baylor, Nebraska and Oklahoma. All four schools are looking for their 10th win of the season in league play. They hold a three-game lead over their next nearest opponents in Iowa State and Texas Tech. All five of Wednesday night?â„¢s Big 12 matches were decided by less than 10 points including A&M?â„¢s 61-54 loss at Iowa State. Oklahoma State lost a close one at Baylor with a 75-66 result in the Lady Bears?â„¢ favor.
1T. Baylor (22-4, 9-3)
1T. Nebraska (21-5, 9-3)
1T. Oklahoma (19-4, 9-3)
1T. Texas A&M (19-5, 9-3)
5T. Iowa State (18-7, 6-6)
5T. Texas Tech (15-11, 6-6)
7T. Oklahoma State (17-8, 5-7)
7T. Texas (16-10, 5-7)
7T. Colorado (11-13, 5-7)
10. Kansas State (16-9, 4-8)
11. Missouri (15-10, 3-9)
12. Kansas (8-17, 2-10)
COACH BLAIR ON THE AIR
This week?â„¢s Big 12 Showcase originates from the basketball hotbed of the conference ?- Texas A&M ?- home of the Big 12?â„¢s top teams on the men?â„¢s and women?â„¢s sides. The show will take an exclusive, inside look at the Aggie women, as they tag along with head coach Gary Blair before A&M?â„¢s sweep of Oklahoma on Feb. 10. Showcase had the all-access pass to Coach Blair?â„¢s home, locker room and had him miked up in-game. It?â„¢s a unique look at the craftsman and showman behind one of the greatest turnarounds in NCAA women?â„¢s basketball. Big 12 Showcase is the official TV-magazine show of the Big 12 Conference, seen nationally on Fox Sports Net. It will be aired locally on Fox Sports Southwest on Friday, Feb. 16 at 2:30 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 17 at 10:30 a.m. Check your local listings.
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 Amy Wright (color analyst) will call the action live from Gallagher-Iba Arena on KZNE 1150 AM The Zone.