Jan. 20, 2009
Baylor Game Notes in PDF Format 
#9/7 TEXAS A&M (14-2, 2-1) vs. #5/4 BAYLOR (15-1, 3-0)
Game #17
January 21, 2009 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Reed Arena (12,989)
at College Station, Texas
Television: None
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Baylor Leads 39-35
Internet: Live Video and Statistics available on www.AggieAthletics.com
GAME PREVIEW
The No. 9/7-ranked Texas A&M women's basketball team (14-2, 2-1) will face its second-straight top five opponent in the first edition of the Battle of the Brazos with No. 5/4 Baylor (15-1, 3-0) on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at Reed Arena. The Big 12 Conference showdown between the Aggies and Lady Bears will tipoff at 7 p.m. (CT). A&M looks to get back on track after suffering only its second loss of the season at No. 3 Oklahoma (71-59) on Jan. 18 in Norman. The Aggies will play three games in the course of five days against the likes of the nation's best who happen to hail from the Big 12 South. Like their top 10 faceoff with the Sooners over the weekend, the Lady Bears will present another physical and fast-paced matchup as they currently rank No. 1 nationally in rebounding margin (+14.4) and No. 6 in scoring margin (+21.5). A&M will put its 13-game home court win streak on the line as well as look to turn up its signature defense against BU. The Aggies boast the nation's sixth-best scoring defense holding opponents to 52.8 points per game. They have won 30 of their last 34 overall games dating back to winning 16 of their last 18 to close out their 2007-08 NCAA Elite Eight campaign.
GAME PROMOTIONS
The Aggies will host Texas A&M University Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night for Wednesday's Baylor game. A&M faculty and staff can purchase tickets online for $3. Coach Blair's Kids Court will open one hour prior to tipoff with the Lady Bears and will be held in the new women's basketball practice gym at the Cox-McFerrin Center For Aggie Basketball. Tickets ranging from $10 for general admission to $16 for courtside seating are available for purchase by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE, online at www.12thmanfoundation.com, or in person at the 12th Man Foundation Ticket Center's Kyle Field or Reed Arena locations.
TRACKING THE LADY BEARS
Baylor is riding a nine-game winning streak including a 3-0 start to the Big 12 season for only the second time in the 13-year history of the league. The Lady Bears were picked to finish fourth with one first-place vote in the preseason Big 12 coaches poll after finishing with a 25-7 overall record and an NCAA second-round loss to Pittsburgh (67-59) in 2007-08. Their lone loss of the season was a 59-58 setback to Wisconsin at the 2008 Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Nov. 29. The Lady Bears have three players averaging double figures in scoring including leading scorer Danielle Wilson (15.3 ppg) along with preseason All-Big 12 honorable mention selections Rachel Allison (13.0 ppg) and Jessica Morrow (10.4 ppg). BU is fresh off a 75-57 victory over No. 22 Oklahoma State on Jan. 17 to improve its record to 3-0 versus top 25 ranked opponents this season.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name 2008-09 Stats
#51 Sydney Colson, G, 5-8, So. (5.6 ppg, 3.6 apg)
#3 Takia Starks, G, 5-8, Sr. (15.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
#55 Danielle Gant, G/F, 5-11, Sr. (14.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg)
#21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, Fr. (6.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg)
#12 La Toya Micheaux, C, 6-3, Sr. (2.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg)
BAYLOR
No. Name (2008-09 Stats)
#21 Kelli Griffin, G, 5-8, So. (5.9 ppg, 3.6 apg)
#15 Jhasmin Player, G, 5-10, Sr. (9.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg)
#3 Jessica Morrow, F, 6-0, Sr. (10.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg)
#14 Rachel Allison, F, 6-1, Sr. (13.0 ppg, 7.1 rpg)
#11 Danielle Wilson, C, 6-3, Jr. (15.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg)
SERIES HISTORY
Baylor leads Texas A&M 39-35 in the all-time series. The Aggies have won three out of the last four meetings between the two Big 12 South rivals dating back to a 60-52 (+8) road win on Jan. 13, 2007 in Waco, Texas, to a 72-53 (+19) victory over then No. 8-ranked Baylor on March 1, 2008 in College Station which is the Aggies' second largest margin of victory over a ranked opponent in school history. The Lady Bears have posted a 20-6 record over the Aggies in Big 12 competition since the league's inception in 1996-97, but A&M is 18-13 all-time when playing BU at home in College Station including a 60-52 (+8) victory on Jan. 13, 2007.
BAYLOR FLASHBACK (AP)
Takia Starks to make it 70-47. Starks, who finished with 12 points, got her fourth foul with 14 minutes left and missed about eight minutes before returning to the game and promptly hitting those two three-pointers. Neither team scored a basket in the first three minutes of the second half until A'Quonesia Franklin drove past a trio of Baylor defenders for a layup that made it 43-21. The Aggies trailed by three early in the game before scoring six straight points to take a 12-9 lead with about 12 minutes remaining in the half. A jump shot by Jessika Bradley cut the lead to one before A&M scored five straight, capped by a three-pointer by Danielle Gant to push its lead to 17-11. Gant had 18 points and 12 rebounds. The Bears got within one again with about seven minutes left in the first half, but the Aggies went on a 23-5 run to lead 40-21 at halftime. Atunrase scored 16 points, including two 3-pointers, in that span. She finished with six rebounds, three blocks and two assists. BU had six turnovers in that time and went almost six minutes without scoring a basket, until Tisdale's jump shot with about 90 seconds left in the half. The Bears were led by Tisdale's 25 points, but she also had five of their 20 turnovers.
STARKS EYES THREE-POINT RECORD
Senior All-America candidate Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) is five three-pointers shy of surpassing former A&M All-American Lisa Branch (1992-96) in career three-pointers made (165) in school history. Starks has knocked down a total of 161 for her career including 18 threes this season.
CAREER 3-POINT FIELD GOALS MADE
1. Lisa Branch (1992-96) - 165
2. Takia Starks (2006-Present) - 161
3. A'Quonesia Franklin (2005-08) - 157
4. Amy Yates (1996-00) - 154
5. Prissy Sharpe (1996-00) - 118
LADY TECHSTER REUNION
Women's Basketball Hall of Famer and legendary Louisiana Tech head coach Leon Barmore came out of retirement in the summer of 2008 to serve as an assistant coach to his former star player Kim Mulkey at Baylor. Barmore had previously spent 20 years with the Lady Techsters prior to his retirement at the end of the 2001-02 season. His coaching tree stretches throughout the Big 12 Conference as Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair served as an assistant to him in Ruston from 1980-85, Texas Tech head coach Kristy Curry as an assistant from 1996-99 and Oklahoma State head coach Kurt Budke as an associate head coach from 2000-02. Blair was a part of two national championships and four Final Four appearances during his five seasons at La. Tech. "I have a lot of respect for him," said Blair on Barmore. "He taught me a lot about the game. I've enjoyed our competition that we've had against each other on the court and on the golf course. I haven't played him on the golf course in so long that I'm anxious to see if the old man still has game. I'm afraid he does, because he is all of six months older than I am."
AGGIE SIDEBARS
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 9-8 lifetime versus Baylor in his 24 years as a Division I head coach. He is 3-8 all-time against the Lady Bears in Big 12 Conference play.
• Coach Blair and Coach Barmore both reached the NCAA Women's Final Four with Arkansas and La. Tech respectively in 1998. Blair lost his national semifinal game against eventual national champion Tennessee, while Barmore and the Lady Techsters defeated North Carolina State for a spot in the national championship game with the Lady Vols. Blair has never faced a team with Barmore on the sidelines outside of his head coaching days at Stephen F. Austin from 1985-93.
• Texas A&M associate head coach La Toya Micheaux. Team USA went on to a 4-2 record in tournament pool play with wins over Korea, Japan, Chinese Taipei and New Zealand.
OKLAHOMA RECAP
Oklahoma 71, Texas A&M 59
• For the 10th time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Takia Starks, Danielle Gant, La Toya Micheaux (8-2).
• With the loss, A&M falls to 2-14 when playing on the road in Norman.
• Danielle Gant extends her double-digit scoring streak to six-straight games with 18 points versus OU.
• Junior reserve forward Damitria Buchanan came off the bench and contributed a career-high four steals in 20 minutes of action against the Sooners. Ironically, her previous career-best was three steals in the team's last outing versus OU on March 6, 2008.
• Sophomore reserve Maryann Baker hit two free throws, a season-best for her, in A&M's late second-half run.
AGGIE NOTABLE QUOTABLES
"You are going against a system when you play Baylor. It is a system that hasn't changed much over the years dating back to the Louisiana Tech days (for Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey and assistant coach Leon Barmore). They believe in rebounding the basketball. They are not a great three-point shooting team, but they can take people to the hole and beat you inside. They attack you on offense, they always have solid point guard play and they have post players who can finish. Danielle Wilson may be the most improved player in our league. She was a contributor last year and they have turned her into an all-conference player this year. She is a double-double almost every night. Double-doubles happen when you play hard on every play and go to the boards both offensively and defensively. She is coming into her own and they have very good post coaches." - Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair on Baylor
"Baylor is still coming to College Station. When we go to Baylor, it is just as tough for us to win there as it is for them to win here. We have won the last two times here in College Station and I think that has been very important in getting us a high seed in the NCAA Tournament. They are a very good basketball team. They do not beat themselves. Everything is patterned. Their offense is not very complicated. They are kind of like the old Green Bay Packers. You know what is coming, but can you stop it? That's the key to basketball. We all do our homework. They do a great job on their inbounds plays, but the thing that concerns me more than anything is their rebounding. Hopefully, that is going to inspire us to get to that next level of rebounding. We got kicked on the boards by Oklahoma, not just by Courtney Paris, but by their entire team. The next thing we have to do is have the same type of atmosphere that we had here last Wednesday night when our men beat Baylor. When you have that kind of atmosphere and you have the students back on campus, will our fans rise to the occasion? I hope so. They (the students) were the difference in that ballgame. We need that same type of energy, while we are still trying to find our chemistry." - Coach Blair on building on the home-court advantage versus Baylor
"We know who our top players are and who can do what, but it still has to all come together. They have to trust each other out there on the court. They have to trust someone on the defense that if they are overplaying someone, they have help behind them. They have to trust that they can get up in someone's shorts and guard the ball. They have to trust that if someone takes a shot, that someone else can go to the offensive boards and get that rebound. Our press has not been near as good this year. Some of it is due to having new players in our system and some of it is because we are taking plays off. We have to get better as a unit in everything that we do. I am looking forward to every game that we play. We are going to find out who we are, particularly in these next four games (against Oklahoma, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas). If we do not get better in a hurry, we are going to go 0-4 in these next four. If we can get better and take one game at a time, we are going to be a good basketball team." - Coach Blair on the team's strengths and weaknesses
"Hopefully, we can do the same thing that we did last year when Baylor came into our place. It is going to be big for us to have a good defensive effort against them. They are just like Oklahoma. They have good post players and have a good outside game with their guards. We have to come out there and look like a new team to get it done. With a better defensive effort, our offense will come. We can't wait until it is too late. We need to start now." - Sophomore point guard Sydney Colson on Baylor
IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
After its first top 25 loss of the season to OU on Jan. 18, Texas A&M dropped one spot to No. 9 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll released on Monday and one spot to No. 7 in the latest USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Top 25 Poll released on Tuesday. The Aggies are 3-1 this season against top 25 opponents. They are also one of three Big 12 teams to be ranked among the top 10 in the country.
ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25 POLL
1. Connecticut (17-0)
2. North Carolina (17-0)
3. Oklahoma (14-2)
4. Duke (15-1)
5. Baylor (15-1)
6. Auburn (18-0)
7. Louisville (18-1)
8. California (14-2)
9. Texas A&M (14-2)
10. Tennessee (14-3)
11. Stanford (13-4)
12. Maryland (15-3)
13. Notre Dame (15-2)
14. Texas (14-3)
15. Florida (17-2)
16. Virginia (14-3)
17. Vanderbilt (14-4)
18. Kansas State (15-1)
19. Ohio State (14-3)
20. Marist (17-1)
21. Rutgers (10-5)
22. Florida State (16-4)
23. New Mexico (14-2)
24. Oklahoma State (12-4)
25. Pittsburgh (12-4)
USA TODAY/ESPN COACHES TOP 25 POLL
1. Connecticut (18-0)
2. Oklahoma (14-2)
3. North Carolina (17-1)
4. Baylor (15-1)
5. Auburn (18-0)
6. California (14-2)
7. Texas A&M (14-2)
8. Duke (16-1)
9. Notre Dame (15-2)
10. Louisville (18-1)
11. Stanford (13-4)
12. Tennessee (14-3)
13. Maryland (15-3)
14. Virginia (14-3)
15. Kansas State (15-1)
16. Texas (14-3)
17. Ohio State (14-3)
18. Vanderbilt (14-4)
19. Florida (17-2)
20. South Dakota State (18-2)
21. Xavier (15-4)
22. Iowa State (13-4)
23. Florida State (16-4)
24. Rutgers (10-5)
25. Oklahoma State (12-4)
AROUND THE BIG 12
With wins over the weekend, Baylor and Oklahoma jumped out to an early one-game lead in the Big 12 Conference race with undefeated 3-0 marks in league play. A&M, Kansas State, Texas and Texas Tech follow behind in a four-way tie for third place with 2-1 records, while Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma State and Missouri are in an additional four-way tie for seventh at 1-2. Nebraska and Colorado are still looking for its first league win at 0-3. The Big 12 is the only conference in the nation with all 12 teams above .500 in overall wins for the season.
1T. Baylor (15-1, 3-0)
1T. Oklahoma (14-2, 3-0)
3T. Kansas State (15-1, 2-1)
3T. Texas A&M (14-2, 2-1)
3T. Texas (14-3, 2-1)
3T. Texas Tech (11-5, 2-1)
7T. Iowa State (13-4, 1-2)
7T. Kansas (12-4, 1-2)
7T. Oklahoma State (12-4, 1-2)
7T. Missouri (10-6, 1-2)
9T. Nebraska (9-7, 0-3)
9T. Colorado (8-7, 0-3)
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 Reed Arena alongside color analyst Tap Bentz on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on www.AggieAthletics.com.