December 08, 2007
The 11th-ranked Texas A&M women?â„¢s basketball team (7-1) plays host to its fourth first time opponent of the season in New Orleans (5-3) on Sunday, Dec. 9 at Reed Arena. Tipoff between the Aggies and Lady Privateers is scheduled for 5 p.m. A&M is coming off an 81-67 victory over 2007 NCAA Sweet 16 participant Florida State on Dec. 6, which extended its current win streak to a season-best four-straight games. The Aggies have found a shooting rhythm in their last three-game stretch shooting 40 percent or better against the likes of Michigan, TCU and FSU. They have outscored their last three opponents by a margin of 17.3 points per game and shot a combined 45 percent from the floor. A&M has also defended its home court well with an unblemished 3-0 record at Reed Arena to improve its home winning streak to a school-record 21 consecutive games.
GAME PROMOTIONS
The Half-Price Holiday Hoops promotion begins as tickets will be available for purchase for $2 (general admission and gallery), $4.50 (mezzanine) and $5.50 (courtside) for the New Orleans, Auburn, Texas-Arlington, North Carolina A&T and Stephen F. Austin women?â„¢s games. Fans can purchase tickets by calling the 12th Man Foundation Ticket Office at 1-888-99-AGGIE. Sunday?â„¢s contest will also mark the third of five men?â„¢s and women?â„¢s basketball games that Aggie Athletes Involved will conduct their annual Toy Drive during the holiday season. All donations will benefit Toys for Tots and fans who donate an item will receive half-price admission into the game. Fans who present their ticket stub from the NCAA Women?â„¢s College Cup championship game will gain free admission into Sunday?â„¢s tilt with UNO.
ALL THE JAZZ ABOUT NEW ORLEANS
The Lady Privateers return all five starters from last year?â„¢s 9-21 squad including top returning scorer Talishia Young who is averaging 11.1 points per game and has recorded two double-doubles this season. She registered a season-high 22 points and 10 rebounds at McNeese State on Nov. 16 and 19 points and 15 rebounds versus Nicholls State on Nov. 27. Led by fifth-year head coach Amy Champion, UNO continues to rebuild as the Lady Privateers have already compiled five victories this year which match the combined wins in the 2004-05 (2-26) and 2005-06 (3-25) seasons. Only 43 percent of the team?â„¢s lineup is made up of players from the state of Louisiana with four players making a homecoming to the Lone Star State this weekend. With an eight-day layoff between games, UNO previously defeated UNLV in a 63-50 victory in the consolation game of their home-hosted Lady Privateer Classic on Dec. 1.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2007-08 Stats)
#10 A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin, G, 5-3, Sr. (8.8 ppg, 4.6 apg)
#3 Takia Starks, G, 5-8, Jr. (18.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
#55 Danielle Gant, G/F, 5-11, Jr. (11.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg)
#33 Ashlaa Horton, F, 6-1, So. (3.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg)
#12 La Toya Micheaux, C, 6-3, Jr. (5.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg)
NEW ORLEANS
No. Name (2007-08 Stats)
#2 Brittany Helm, G, 5-8, So. (10.6 ppg, 3.0 apg)
#5 Ty Felder, F, 6-0, Jr. (5.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg)
#33 Andrea Williams, F, 6-2, Sr. (1.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg)
#24 Candice McGee, F, 5-11, So. (10.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg)
#1 Talishia Young, F, 6-3, Jr. (11.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg)
AGAINST THE SUN BELT
Texas A&M is 18-7 all-time against teams hailing from the Sun Belt Conference. The Aggies last met a Sun Belt school a year ago with a 70-52 victory over North Texas (12-4) on Dec. 18, 2006, which is the longest all-time A&M series versus a Sun Belt opponent. A&M has faced South Alabama (0-1), Arkansas-Little Rock (3-1), Louisiana-Monroe (1-0), Arkansas State (1-1) and Louisiana-Lafayette (1-0).
WHAT?â„¢S UP NEXT
The Aggies will take on two top 25 opponents in their next two ballgames with a Dec. 15 matchup with No. 14 Auburn in College Station and a Dec. 20 tilt at No. 21 George Washington in Washington, D.C. Since 1994, A&M has only faced two-or-more top 25 opponents in non-conference play on two occasions including No. 16 Duke, No. 5 Purdue and No. 20 Ole Miss during the 1995-96 season and No. 10 Vanderbilt, No. 19 Stephen F. Austin, No. 8 Arizona and No. 1 Tennessee during the 1997-98 season.
DID YOU KNOW?
?* A&M is an undefeated 6-0 against schools hailing from the Pelican State in the Gary Blair Era. The Aggies have played McNeese State (3-0), Louisiana-Monroe (1-0), Tulane (1-0) and Northwestern State (1-0) since Blair?â„¢s first season in 2003-04. He previously held roots in the state of Louisiana as an assistant coach at La. Tech under Hall of Fame head coach Leon Barmore and helped lead the Lady Techsters to two national championships and four NCAA Final Four appearances. Blair is 1-0 all-time versus UNO in his 23 years as a Division I head coach.
?* Texas A&M senior combination forward/guard Morenike Atunrase is the only Louisiana native on the Aggie roster and starred at Southwood High School in Shreveport, La., which is also the alma mater of former Duke All-American and current WNBA player Alana Beard. Atunrase guided Southwood to back-to-back state championships in 2002 and 2003. The 2005 Big 12 Freshman of the Year is currently recovering from surgery to correct a non-healing stress fracture in her right tibia. She is expected to return in January prior to Big 12 Conference play.
?* First-year New Orleans Director of Basketball Operations Angela Marin is a Class of ?â„¢04 graduate of Texas A&M and served on former men?â„¢s basketball head coach Billy Gillispie?â„¢s staff as a student assistant. She was hired by former UNO men?â„¢s basketball head coach Buzz Williams, a former A&M assistant coach under Gillispie, as a graduate assistant in New Orleans last season prior to his departure to become an assistant coach at Marquette.
AGGIES ARE FEELING, HOT, HOT, HOT
A&M has shot better than 47 percent from the field in two of its last three contests including its second-highest shooting percentage of the season (47.1) versus Florida State. The Aggies also shot a season-high 47.5 percent against Michigan on Nov. 29. In fact, Takia Starks, A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin and Danielle Gant combined for 65 of the team?â„¢s season-best 81 points against FSU. It marked the second-straight contest in which A&M had three players account for a combined 60-or-more points of the team?â„¢s overall scoring next to Starks, Franklin and Patrice Reado (Houston, Texas) combining for 60 of the team?â„¢s 68 total points at TCU on Dec. 2. The Aggies shot 40 percent from the floor against the Lady Frogs on the road.
A THOUSAND REASONS ?...
Junior Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) looks to become the 19th women?â„¢s basketball player in school history to reach the 1,000-career point plateau as she is 13 points shy of the milestone with 987 career points to date. Senior Morenike Atunrase has already accumulated 1,030 career points and the pair could become only the sixth Aggie 1,000-career point duo in school history. Over the last three contests versus Michigan, TCU and Florida State combined, Starks has been on fire from all over the court averaging 25.0 points per game and shooting 58.8 percent from the floor and 43.8 percent from downtown. She has registered three-straight 20-point games with a recent career-high tying 28 points against Florida State on Dec. 6 to go along with 23-point and 24-point performances versus Michigan and TCU respectively. Starks previously recorded 20-point games in a three-game stretch against Missouri (21), Oklahoma (25) and Iowa State (23) last February in league play.
1,000 Career-Point Duos and Trios In School History
Lisa Langston, Michelle Tatum and Jenni Edgar in 1984-85
Donna Roper and Lisa Jordon in 1988-89
Prissy Sharpe and Kera Alexander in 1999-00
Lisa Branch and Martha McClelland in 1994-95
Brandy Jones and Jaynetta Saunders in 2000-01
THE SLANT ON GANT
Junior Danielle Gant (Oklahoma City, Okla.) is known for her perfection in the shooting department. She has led the Aggies in field-goal percentage over the last two seasons. Gant shot 58.2 percent as a freshman which ranked second nationally and 56.7 percent as a sophomore. She picked up her fourth career 20-point game with a career-high 25 points against Florida State on Dec. 6. Gant returned to the lineup after recovering from concussion symptoms suffered from a knee to the head versus Michigan on Nov. 29. In two games against the Seminoles and Wolverines combined, she returned to form and went 64.0 percent (16-of-25) from the floor and 83.3 percent (5-of-6) from the charity stripe. The Big 12?â„¢s Sixth Man Award winner a year ago, Gant has started in seven games this season after making only 19 starts in 64 career games played prior to the start of her junior campaign.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
The Aggies have compiled a school-record 21 consecutive home wins at Reed Arena which includes two home victories against Big 12 rivals Texas and Iowa State at the conclusion of the 2005-06 season. Last season, A&M turned in the best Division I home-court record in the nation going an undefeated 16-0 at Reed Arena which marked the program?â„¢s first-ever unblemished record at home. The Aggies previously won 17 consecutive home games during former head coach Lynn Hickey?â„¢s final season in 1993-94 and former head coach Candi Harvey?â„¢s first season in 1994-95. The streak began with a 75-74 win over Texas on Jan. 11, 1994 to a 101-47 victory over TCU on Jan. 28, 1995. A&M is currently one of nine Big 12 schools which remain undefeated at its home venue with a perfect 3-0 mark. In correlation, the Aggies are shooting 45.1 percent at home in comparison to 37.6 percent on the road or a neutral site.
FLORIDA STATE RECAP
Takia Starks and Danielle Gant combined for 53 points in Texas A&M?â„¢s 81-67 win over Florida State Thursday night. Starks tied a career-best with her third consecutive 20-point output of the season against the Seminoles. She scored 17 of her game-high 28 points in the first seven and a half minutes of play as A&M jumped out to an early 17-6 run with 15:04 to go in the first period. Meanwhile, Gant followed suit with 19 of her career-high 26 points produced in the first half. Starks and Gant accounted for 36 of the team?â„¢s season-best 50 first-half points as A&M took a 12-point lead into halftime, 50-38. FSU started the second half on a 14-8 run to cut the lead down to six as Mara Freshour hit a jumper with 14:59 remaining in regulation, 58-52. It was the closest the Seminoles would get as A&M kept up its defensive pressure which resulted in 24 FSU turnovers in the ballgame. Senior A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin (Tyler, Texas) also contributed 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range.
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. Play-by-play announcer Tom Turbiville will call the action live from Reed Arena alongside color analyst Tap Bentz on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on www.AggieAthletics.com.