March 18, 2007
A first time meeting awaits in the wings as the fourth-seeded Texas A&M women's basketball team (25-6) faces fifth-seeded George Washington (27-3) in the second round of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship on Monday, March 19 at 7 p.m (CT). Both teams come into the matchup as the reigning Big 12 Conference and Atlantic 10 Conference regular season champions and advanced past Saturday's first round with wins over 13th-seeded Texas-Arlington (58-50) and 12th-seeded Boise State (76-67) respectively.
| GAME INFO |
| Monday, March 19, 7 p.m. (CDT) Galen Center (10,258), Los Angeles NCAA Championship - Second Round |
| RECORDS |
| Texas A&M: 24-6 George Washington: 27-3 |
| RANKINGS |
| A&M is ranked 15th by ESPN/USA Today and 16th by The Associated Press. GW is ranked 14th and 13th. |
| TELEVISION |
| ESPN2 Bob Wischusen, play-by-play Lisa Leslie, commentary Krista Blunk, sidelines |
| RADIO |
| KZNE-AM 1150 (Local) Tom Turbiville, play-by-play Amy Wright, commentary (broadcast time 6:45 p.m. CDT) |
| INTERNET |
| Live Video: None Live Audio: (Aggies All-Access) Live Stats: (ncaasports.com) |
| SERIES |
| First Meeting |
| UP NEXT |
| Winner vs. North Carolina/Notre Dame winner NCAA Sweet 16 Sunday, March 25, Time TBD Reunion Arena, Dallas |
For the Aggies, it marked the second time in school history in which an A&M squad had advanced past the first round since a Sweet 16 appearance in 1994. Two of the nation's top defenses will go head-to-head in a quest for a coveted Sweet 16 berth in the Dallas Regional. The Aggies envision playing back home in the Lone Star State, but will have their hands full with the Colonials. GWU has only lost three games this season including two top 25 losses to top-seeded Tennessee and defending national champion Maryland. The Aggies have won 12 of their last 14 games with two losses to NCAA Tournament participant Iowa State, while the Colonials have won 20 of their last 21 contests with a loss to unranked Saint Joseph's in the semifinals of the A-10 Championship. In last year's NCAA Tournament, both teams were selected to the same regional with A&M seeded higher at No. 6 and GWU at No. 7 in the Cleveland Regional. The Aggies are vying for their second all-time appearance in the Sweet 16 and the Colonials their third.
MADE FOR TV
For the ninth time this season, Texas A&M will showcase its talents before a national television audience on ESPN2. It will mark the program's third all-time appearance (1-1) on the Deuce. Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Lisa Leslie (color analyst) and Krista Blunk (sideline reporter) will call the game live from the Galen Center. Not shy of the limelight, A&M has been successful this season compiling an 8-2 record when playing on the tube. All rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be televised exclusively on ESPN and ESPN2.
A TALE OF TWO FRIENDS
Two coaching fraternity friends will be on both ends of the sidelines Monday night hoping to lead their team into the Sweet 16. Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair and George Washington head coach Joe McKeown have been good friends over the years. Last summer, Blair and McKeown both fulfilled a lifetime dream by attending The Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club. Blair also celebrated McKeown's 50th birthday in Washington, D.C. Blair (481-212) is in his 22nd year of coaching in the collegiate ranks, while McKeown (481-166) is in his 21st year. Both have won exactly the same number of career victories (481) leading up to the second-round matchup. Blair is one of four national finalists for the prestigious Naismith Coach of the Year Award. He is one of four coaches in NCAA history to take three teams to the NCAA Tournament (Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas and Texas A&M), while McKeown has taken two teams to the Big Dance (New Mexico State and GWU). Both are the only male coaches to be hired in their respective program's history. They have played each other twice before during the 1998-99 and 1999-00 seasons when George Washington played a home-and-home series with Arkansas. The Colonials posted a 2-0 record against the Razorbacks to give McKeown the two-game advantage over Blair. A&M and George Washington will meet next season in regular season non-conference play with a home-and-home series scheduled between the two schools in 2007-08 and 2008-09.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Both teams carry a 14-player roster and have more than seven players over six-foot. Reserve center Lenka Zimova (Partizanske, Slovakia) is the tallest player for Texas A&M at 6-foot-6, while center Jessica Adair is the tallest player for GWU at 6-foot-4. The Aggies and Colonials rely on balanced scoring with four players averaging double figures in the lineup. Sophomore center La Toya Micheaux (7.4 rpg) and Jessica Adair (7.9 rpg) lead their respective teams in the rebounding column averaging nearly the same rebounds on both the offensive and defensive ends. Micheaux has brought down 230 rebounds this season and 110 on the offensive glass, while Adair has grabbed 222 rebounds and 104 on the offensive end. Both team's floor generals are averaging more than 34 minutes per game with Texas A&M's A'Quonesia Franklin (34.8) and George Washington's Kimberly Beck (35.8). Franklin has dished out 147 assists and is three short of recording her third consecutive 150+ assist season. Beck has distributed the ball 164 times this season for the Colonials. Four players on the GWU roster have played in all 30 games of the season, while five players on the A&M roster have seen action in all 31.
LEADING SCORERS
Texas A&M
G - Takia Starks - 14.1 ppg
G/F - Danielle Gant - 10.9 ppg
G - A'Quonesia Franklin - 10.0 ppg
G/F - Morenike Atunrase - 10.4 ppg
George Washington
C/F - Jessica Adair - 13.2 ppg
G - Sarah-Jo Lawrence - 13.1 ppg
G - Kimberly Beck - 11.3 ppg
G/F - Kenan Cole - 11.1 ppg
SISTER ACT
The Aggies will face the fourth sister act tandem in all of Division I women's basketball this season in George Washington's Jessica and Jazmine Adair. In fact, they have gone 3-0 against teams with sister duos including Oklahoma's Courtney and Ashley Paris and Arizona's double twin dose of Rheya and Rhaya Neabors and Beatrice and Suzy Bofia. A&M swept OU for the first time in Big 12 Conference play this past season on Jan. 27 and Feb. 10, while the Aggies defeated Arizona (64-44) on Nov. 28.
TEXAS A&M IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
The Aggies are 3-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament games. They received an at-large bid and No. 13 seed in 1994 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 by upsetting the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds along the way in Florida (78-76) and San Diego State (75-72 OT) respectively. A&M later fell to top-seeded Purdue (82-56) in the Sweet 16. This is the third time A&M has played an NCAA Tournament game on California soil. The Aggies last played San Diego State in San Diego and Purdue in Palo Alto in the 1994 Tournament. They earned an automatic bid in 1996 after upsetting top-seeded and then No. 7-ranked Texas Tech (72-68) in the Southwest Conference Tournament title tilt on March 9, 1996. A&M suffered a first-round loss to Kent State in the 1996 Tournament. Last year, the Aggies made their first NCAA Tournament appearance after a 10-year absence and were seeded No. 6 in the Cleveland Regional and lost to TCU (69-65) in the NCAA First Round in Trenton, N.J. They were previously seeded No. 13 in the 1994 West Regional and No. 7 in the 1996 West Regional. Historically, the Aggies have now advanced past the first round twice in four all-time tournament appearances.
GEORGE WASHINGTON OVERVIEW
George Washington's NCAA Tournament resume mirrors Texas A&M's among the four-team field. The No. 14/13-ranked Colonials have been ranked in both national polls since the preseason polls came out in November and have one of the top defenses in the country. The Colonials are making their 14th overall and fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Joe McKeown. They are 2-3 against top 25 opponents this season. GWU was upset in the semifinals of the Atlantic-10 Conference Championship with a two-point loss to Saint Joseph's (57-55) on March 4. However, the Colonials won the regular season title for the sixth-straight year with an undefeated 14-0 mark in league play. Junior point guard Kimberly Beck ranks 20th nationally in assists per game (5.5), while the GWU defense has frustrated opponents allowing them to shoot 35 percent or worse from the floor which ranks 10th-best among NCAA leaders in the category. Leading scorer Jessica Adair recorded a double-double with 15 points and 21 rebounds in the team's first-round victory over Boise State Saturday. Adair was joined in double figures by Beck (14), Kenan Cole (16) and Sarah-Jo Lawrence (14). The Broncos outscored the Colonials, 42-32, in the second half after posting only 25 first-half points.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2006-07 Stats)
#10 A'Quonesia Franklin, G, 5-3, Jr. (10.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg)
#3 Takia Starks, G, 5-8, So. (14.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
#55 Danielle Gant, G/F, 5-11, So. (10.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg)
#24 Patrice Reado, F, 6-0, Jr. (7.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg)
#12 La Toya Micheaux, C, 6-3, So. (6.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg)
GEORGE WASHINGTON
No. Name (2006-07 Stats)
#5 Kimberly Beck, G, 5-8, Jr. (11.3 ppg, 5.5 apg)
#32 Sarah-Jo Lawrence, G, 5-11, Jr. (13.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
#3 Whitney Allen, F, 5-11, Jr. (6.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg)
#20 Kenan Cole, G/F, 5-10, Sr. (11.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg)
#1 Jessica Adair, C/F, 6-4, So. (13.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg)
26 - THE MAGIC NUMBER
Texas A&M will look for win No. 26 against George Washington in second-round action Monday night. In the first two seasons of the Gary Blair era, the Aggies combined for 25 total victories with a 9-19 record in 2003-04 and 16-15 record in 2004-05. A victory would give the Aggies their most victories in school history to tie a 26-18 campaign in 1978-79. A&M has compiled 20-win seasons seven times in 1978-79 (26-18), 1974-75 (24-9), 1993-94 (23-8), 2005-06 (23-9), 2006-07 (23-5), 1994-95 (21-9) and 1995-96 (20-12). No matter what happens in postseason play, mathematically the odds are in favor of the Aggies recording their fewest losses in a single season in front of a 23-8 campaign in 1993-94.
THE AGGIELAND 500
Texas A&M (499-479) is one win away from recording its 500th overall victory in the 33-year history of the program. A&M's first season of women's basketball began in 1974-75. The Aggies would become one of only 121 Division I women's basketball programs to accomplish that feat (about 36 percent of the 335-team membership). Over the last three seasons, A&M has won 64 overall games which is more than six seasons of wins combined (62) from 1998-2004. In those six seasons, the Aggies compiled 13 victories or less with single digits twice (7-20 in 1998-99 and 9-19 in 2003-04). A&M and Iowa State are the only Big 12 schools who have yet to reach the 500-win mark.
TEXAS-ARLINGTON RECAP (AP)
Texas A&M avoided another first-round upset to an intrastate opponent. Sophomore Danielle Gant (Oklahoma City, Okla.) scored 20 of her 24 points in the second half and grabbed 14 rebounds to help the fourth-seeded Aggies beat 13th-seeded Texas-Arlington, 58-50, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on March 17. Last year, the sixth-seeded Aggies lost to 11th-seeded TCU in the tournament's first round. Gant went 8-for-10 from the field and 8-for-11 from the line and her 24 points matched a career high. It was also the most points scored by an A&M player in an NCAA Tournament game in school history. Texas A&M trailed for most of the first half and was down by two at halftime, but Gant scored the first eight points of the second half to put A&M up 32-26, a lead the Aggies (25-6) wouldn't give up. Gant scored her team's first 13 points of the second half. Terra Wallace had 18 points and Ashley Bobb had 10 points and 15 rebounds for the Mavericks (24-9), who had a 19-game winning streak snapped and lost for the first time since December. Sophomore Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) added 10 points for Texas A&M and made a jumper with 2:09 that gave the Aggies a double-digit lead, 53-43. The two Texas schools, which hadn't met since 2002, are just a three-hour drive apart and are in the tournament's Dallas Regional, but played 1,400 miles away at USC's Galen Center. UTA was just 14-for-66 (21.2 percent), while Texas A&M went 22-for-46 for 47.8 percent. The Mavericks outrebounded the Aggies, 45-32. After Gant's surge to open the second half, Texas-Arlington went on an 8-0 run and held A&M without a field goal for more than 4 minutes to retake the lead, but the Aggies answered with a 7-0 run that included five points from Gant to go up 39-34 with 11:56 to play. UTA would pull within one after a three-point play from Wallace and a free throw from Tiffany Riles, but would get no closer. The Aggies made their first four field goals of the game and blocked two shots in the opening minutes and the Mavericks looked undersized and overmatched, but UTA stuck with A&M, taking the lead 16-14 after a Maryann Abanobi layup with an assist from Wallace. The Mavericks later had a pair of offensive rebounds that led to a reverse layup from Wallace and their biggest lead 23-18, with 4:40 to play in the half. Junior A'Quonesia Franklin (Tyler, Texas) made a jumper with four seconds left to pull the Aggies within two at halftime.
UTA POSTGAME NOTES
* With the victory, Texas A&M advanced to the NCAA Second Round for only the second time in four all-time tournament appearances and first since 1994 when the Aggies made it to the NCAA Sweet 16.
* The Aggies are now 3-3 in NCAA Tournament games all-time.
* A&M used the starting lineup of junior A'Quonesia Franklin, sophomore Takia Starks, sophomore Danielle Gant, junior Patrice Reado and sophomore La Toya Micheaux for the eighth time this season and is 6-2 with this set of starting five.
* Sophomore Danielle Gant started for the 18th time of her career against Texas-Arlington. She recorded her seventh career double-double with a game-high 24 points and 14 rebounds. Gant recorded her 600th career point versus the Mavericks and has tabulated 610 career points to date.
* Gant's career-high tying 24 points were the most points scored and her 14 rebounds were the most brought down by an A&M player in an NCAA Tournament game in school history. It marked her 17th game of the season to score in double figures and third 20-point game of her career.
* The UTA defense held the Aggies to under 60 points for only the 10th time this season.
* The Aggies were outrebounded 27-5 (-22) on the offensive end and 44-33 (-11) for the game.
* Texas-Arlington shot an opponent season-low 21.2 percent from the floor (14-of-66) and was the fifth team this season to shoot in the 20-percent range against the A&M defense including the second opponent in the Aggies' last three outings.
* For the first time this season, A&M went without a three-pointer in the game (0-of-6) snapping a 45-game streak with at least one three-pointer made by the Aggies.
* A&M collected its 25th victory of the season which marks the second-most wins in school history.
* Sophomore Takia Starks was the only other player to score in double figures with 10 points to mark her 25th game this season in double digits.
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 Amy Wright (color analyst) will call second-round action live from the Galen Center on KZNE 1150 AM The Zone.