Jan. 9, 2009
Missouri Game Notes in PDF Format 
#3/6 TEXAS A&M (12-1, 0-0) vs. MISSOURI (9-4, 0-0)
Game #14
January 10, 2009 • 5:00 p.m. (CT)
Mizzou Arena (15,061)
at Columbia, Mo.
Television: Mizzou Sports Network
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Series Tied 7-7
Internet: Live Audio and Statistics available on www.AggieAthletics.com
GAME PREVIEW
The No. 3/6-ranked Texas A&M women's basketball team (12-1, 0-0) travels to Missouri (9-4, 0-0) for its Big 12 Conference opener on Saturday, Jan. 10 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo. Tipoff between the Aggies and Tigers is scheduled for 5 p.m. (CT). A&M is looking to shake off a 60-53 loss at unranked Florida State on Jan. 5 which halted its school-record tying win streak at 12 games. Up until then, the Aggies were one of a select few of undefeated teams in the country and true road warriors, spending half of their non-conference portion of the schedule away from the friendly confines of Reed Arena which resulted in a successful 6-1 tally including two neutral matchups. Historically, Columbia has not been an easy place for the Aggies to play. They are 1-5 all-time on the Tigers' home court with their first and only win at Mizzou occurring just two years ago in 2007.
EYEING THE TIGERS
Missouri has rebounded from a 1-4 start to the season with its current eight-game winning stretch which first began with a 69-63 win at Northwestern on Nov. 30 to its recent 63-42 victory over Chicago State on Jan. 6. After finishing 10-21 a year ago, the Tigers were picked to finish last in the preseason Big 12 coaches poll. However, don't count MU out as all 12 schools went through non-conference play with four losses or less showing the depth of the league from top-to-bottom. Last year's Cinderella team at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, 12th-seeded Mizzou upset fifth-seeded and No. 11-ranked Oklahoma in a first round overtime thriller (70-64) to move on to the quarterfinals versus the fourth-seeded Aggies. They became the first No. 12 seed (men's and women's) to advance in league tournament history. The Tigers return all five starters including leading scorers Jessra Johnson (14.0) and Alyssa Hollins (14.0), a senior out of Mesquite, Texas.
ON THE AIR
The Aggies will appear on television for the fourth time this season as the Mizzou Sports Network extends coverage throughout the state of Missouri on Fox Sports Midwest and in the Kansas City area on Metro Sports. Play-by-play announcer Beau Baehman and color analyst Anne O'Neil, who played for Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly from 2003-05, will call the action live from Mizzou Arena. Fans outside of the state who subscribe to satellite cable and all of the FSN channels can access A&M's Big 12 opener on FSN Midwest via Dish Network (Channel 418) and DirecTV (Channel 671).
AGGIES IN BIG 12 OPENERS
Texas A&M is 3-9 all-time in Big 12 Conference openers since the league's inception in 1996-97. A&M has played on the road to open up a season seven out of the last 12 seasons of Big 12 women's basketball with a 2-5 record. Saturday's contest will mark the eighth time in 13 overall seasons to commence league play on the road. The Aggies last win in a league opener was a 74-52 victory over Oklahoma State in College Station in 2005-06. Mizzou will be the fifth all-time Big 12 North opponent A&M will face in the conference opener (1-3) and third-straight after back-to-back openers with defending regular-season champion Kansas State in 2006-07 and 2007-08.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2008-09 Stats)
#51 Sydney Colson, G, 5-8, So. (5.2 ppg, 4.1 apg)
#3 Takia Starks, G, 5-8, Sr. (14.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
#55 Danielle Gant, G/F, 5-11, Sr. (13.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg)
#21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, Fr. (7.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
#12 La Toya Micheaux, C, 6-3, Sr. (3.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg)
MISSOURI
No. Name (2008-09 Stats)
#12 Alyssa Hollins, G, 5-11, Sr. (14.0 ppg, 2.3 apg)
#1 Bekah Mills, G, 5-9, RS-Fr. (6.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg)
#23 RaeShara Brown, G, 5-8, So. (5.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg)
#4 Jessra Johnson, F, 6-1, Jr. (14.0 ppg, 7.4 rpg)
#44 Shakara Jones, F, 6-2, So. (10.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
SERIES HISTORY
Texas A&M and Missouri are both tied 7-7 in the all-time series. The Aggies are currently riding a four-game winning streak in the series dating back to a 72-52 home victory on Jan. 21, 2006 in College Station. Their first and only win in Columbia was by way of a 69-63 close call versus the Tigers on Feb. 7, 2007. After leading by 21 points at halftime (42-21), Mizzou outscored A&M 42-27 in the second half of play for a near top 25 upset. A&M went an undefeated 2-0 against the Tigers in 2007-08 with a 63-43 regular-season win on Jan. 29, 2008 in College Station and a 65-39 rout in the Big 12 Quarterfinals on March 12, 2008 in Kansas City.
MISSOURI REGULAR-SEASON REWIND
No. 23 Texas A&M used a strong first-half defensive effort to cruise to its second-straight Big 12 win with a 62-43 rout of Missouri on Jan. 29, 2008 at Reed Arena. The Aggie defense forced an impressive 19 turnovers in the game's first 20 minutes, leading to 22 of their 36 first-half points. The Aggies outscored Missouri 22-4 in points off turnovers in the frame to key the win in the 1,000th game in Texas A&M history. Individually, A&M rode on the backs of Takia Starks in the scoring column. The two combined with Patrice Reado to score 45 of the Aggies' 62 points in the contest. Starks produced a game-high 18 points in addition to tossing in four rebounds. Gant was the game's second-leading scorer, piling 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting as well as a 6-of-7 effort from the free throw line. She also contributed seven boards and added a game-high four steals. Her five offensive rebounds equaled that of the entire Missouri team for the contest. Reado's 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting marked her fourth-best scoring output of the season. She also added six boards in the Aggies' third consecutive win over the Tigers. Mizzou was led in scoring by Shakara Jones who had 15.
SHOW-ME STATE HOMECOMING
The Show-Me State of Missouri has been known for its basketball talent and A&M is reaping the rewards of two of its own in preseason Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Year Tanisha Smith (9.3 ppg) and preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year Tyra White (7.1 ppg) who both hail from Kansas City, Mo. For Smith, it will be her first Missouri homecoming since joining the Aggies and the Big 12, after a successful junior college All-American career at Arkansas-Fort Smith, while White makes the second homecoming of her career as A&M traveled to KCMO last year for the 2008 Big 12 Championship. White, a McDonald's High School All-American out of Hickman Mills High School, is a returning redshirt freshman after suffering an ACL injury in her first four minutes of play in A&M's season opener at SMU in 2007-08. Smith is a junior transfer and was a standout at Lincoln Prep.
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME
Attendance and season tickets have skyrocketed since Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair entered the Aggieland hoops scene in 2003-04. Over their last three home games, the Aggies have turned in a trio of top 15 all-time school-record crowds with an increase of close to 500 per game against No. 25 TCU (5,395) on Dec. 21, No. 25 New Mexico (5,543) on Dec. 30 and George Washington (6,892) on Jan. 3. More over, A&M women's basketball season ticket sales have increased by 276 percent since 2005.
AGGIE SIDEBARS
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 8-3 lifetime against Missouri in his 24-year coaching career on the Division I level including a 4-2 mark versus the Tigers in Big 12 Conference play.
• It will be a University of Illinois reunion of sorts as there will be a total of four former Illini women's basketball players on the sidelines in Saturday's opener. Texas A&M associate head coach Kelly Bond lettered from 1995-98 under former head coach Theresa Grentz and won a 1997 Big Ten Conference Championship title as a junior, while Missouri head coach Cindy Stein and associate head coach Lynnette Robinson played in the early 80's. FSN Midwest color analyst Anne O'Neil also played a season in Urbana-Champaign in 2000-01 prior to transferring to Big 12 rival Iowa State to finish out her collegiate career.
• The Missouri game is A&M's second consecutive on the road in the month of January, but more road travels are in store for the Aggies as three of their next five contests in league play will take them to some of the toughest home venues in the nation. A&M will face No. 5/3 Oklahoma on Jan. 18 in Norman, Okla., No. 21 Oklahoma State on Jan. 24 in Stillwater, Okla., and No. 4/12 Texas on Jan. 28 in Austin, Texas. No. 7/5 Baylor is also included in that rough five-game stretch against four-straight top 25 opponents including three in the top 10, but will be played out at home on Jan. 21 in College Station.
FLORIDA STATE RECAP
Florida State 60, Texas A&M 52
• For the seventh time this season, Texas A&M used the starting five of Takia Starks, Danielle Gant, La Toya Micheaux (6-1).
• With the loss, Florida State evened in the all-time series to 1-1 with the Aggies. The Seminoles picked up their first win over a top 25 opponent this season and ended A&M's win streak to 12 games which matched a program-best 12-game win streak at the end of the 2007-08 season.
• For the third-straight game, Tanisha Smith reached double figures in scoring with a career-high 17 points against the Seminoles.
• A&M outrebounded Florida State, 37-36, a team which entered the game with a +10.2 rebounding margin over opponents this season.
• The Aggie defense held FSU to a season-low 19 first-half points on 20.8 shooting from the floor (5-of-24).
• Freshman Sydney Carter (DeSoto, Texas) suffered a mild concussion after taking a charge under the basket in the first half and did not play in the second half.
AGGIE NOTABLE QUOTABLES
"Missouri is a very pattern team. They do not run as much as us, but at the same time, they have two very active and agile post players in (Jessra) Johnson and (Shakara) Jones. They are sort of like the Florida State who can run all day and they do not usually get into foul trouble. (Alyssa) Hollins and T-Kay's (Starks) stats mirror each other. Both of them are always having to shoot the last shot before the shot clock goes off. They are both very good players and are two-guards that the next level is looking at." - Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair on Missouri
"There is no bottom in this league. Missouri is in the bottom, but has won its last eight, so this is a pretty darn good league. It reminds me of the SEC when it was the strongest league in the country, where there was no bottom, but a middle and a top. Missouri returns all of its top players from last year and is a pretty good ballclub that was picked last. Maybe, that's why we were picked fifth (with the depth of the league)." - Coach Blair on what has changed in the Big 12 landscape over the last couple of years
"It was the 17-point lead on the road. You are supposed to find a way. I did not do a good job. I should have switched to a zone when they went on their run. We started shooting blanks against their zone, but that's my call. What we can do to get better is to eat a little bit of humble pie. We are not as good as advertised. We were playing as well as anyone else in the country, because there is no difference between No. 3 and No. 30, if you are playing at home. To be up by 17 on a good team like Florida State, who played Connecticut and Auburn earlier this year, we were doing a pretty good job. I would love to go play it again, but it wasn't our night. Give them credit, they executed very well." - Coach Blair on the biggest disappointment of the road loss at Florida State
"I am feeling good right now, because I still like my team. They are very coachable. The thing that has impressed me the most this year is the senior leadership and not just the senior play (from Starks, Gant and Micheaux). They will speak up and are taking accountability for what happened. It is not the end of the world to lose to Florida State on the road." - Coach Blair on rebounding from the team's first loss of the season at FSU
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. Play-by-play announcer Mike Wright will call the action live from Mizzou Arena alongside color analyst and former player Katy Pounds on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on www.AggieAthletics.com.